Pro-Israel countries to block Irish efforts to sanction Israel at EU summit

Irish Times

9 hours ago

Pro-
Israel
countries, including Germany and
Italy
, are set to block efforts by Ireland and other member states to take action against Israel over its war in
Gaza
at today's summit of
EU
leaders in Brussels.
Several member states, also including
Austria
, the
Czech Republic
and
Hungary
, will not agree for the EU to take action despite a recent review of an EU-Israel trade agreement that found Israel was committing human rights violations in conflict with it.
The EU-Israel 'association agreement' governs relations between the bloc and Israel and includes a free trade deal.
Ireland and other countries favour taking action, up to and including suspending the agreement, but officials accept that any move to sanction Israel at the summit would likely be blocked.
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Several capitals traditionally supportive of Israel opposed the review even being mentioned in a joint statement – or 'conclusions' – that would be signed by all 27 national leaders.
Haggling over the language in the joint communique was set to continue into Thursday. It would be 'bizarre' if a statement from EU leaders at the end of the summit failed to mention the critical review, one diplomat involved in the talks said.
It is expected, however, that the conclusion will point to the 'dire' humanitarian situation in
Gaza
, and diplomats said the focus was likely to be on pressuring Israel to allow aid into the enclave rather than for any sanctions.
The dispute over the wording in the statement illustrates the tense divisions that remain within the EU about how to push Israel to change course and let humanitarian aid flow into Gaza. 'There is no consensus on the issue around the European table,' the diplomat said.
Taoiseach
Micheál Martin
said the EU's inability to reach a unified position on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza
is a 'huge stain' on the union
.
Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, Mr Martin said there must be 'consequences' for Israel's human rights violations. 'Europe needs to speak with a very strong voice, to end this blockade and get vital humanitarian aid into the population of Gaza – otherwise Europe will not have credibility,' he said.
The Taoiseach is expected to have discussions with like-minded countries, including on the legislation to ban imports from the occupied Palestinian territories. Irish officials were cautious about the prospects for countries to co-ordinate such actions, but expressed frustration with the EU's lack of action.
Yesterday, the Government published a summary of its proposed legislation to prohibit the sale of Israeli goods produced in the occupied Palestinian territories.
As expected, it makes no reference to services being subject to a similar ban. This drew criticism from pro-Palestinian campaigners and Opposition parties.
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The summary, or 'heads' of the Bill, will now be sent for pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee.
Meanwhile,
Nato
leaders on Wednesday backed a big increase in defence spending and restated their commitment to defend each other from attack after a brief summit tailor-made for US president
Donald Trump
.
In a short statement, Nato endorsed a higher defence spending goal of 5 per cent of GDP by 2035 – a response to a demand by Mr Trump and to European fears that Russia poses a growing threat to Europe's security following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The planned increases will see hundreds of billions of euro more being spent on defence and military capabilities over the next decade.
'We reaffirm our iron-clad commitment to collective defence as enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty – that an attack on one is an attack on all,' said the statement, which came after Mr Trump sparked concern on Tuesday by saying there were 'numerous definitions' of the clause.