Europe’s silence has allowed the genocide of Palestinians to continue unchecked – undermining all it stands for, says Josep Borrell, a forme
Josep Borrell was the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy from 2019 to 2024
If they survive Donald Trump’s attacks, the international courts will not deliver their final verdict for several years. But for all those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, there can be little doubt that the Israeli government is committing genocide in Gaza, slaughtering and starving civilians after systematically destroying all the infrastructure in the territory. In the meantime, settlers and the Israeli army are every day guilty of serious, massive and repeated violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Those who do not act to stop this genocide and these violations of international law, even though they have the power to do so, are complicit in them. This is unfortunately the case with the leaders of the European Union and those of its member states, who refuse to sanction Israel even though the EU has a legal obligation to do so. The EU has many levers it could pull to exert significant influence on the Israeli government. The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner and its main partner in investment and people-to-people exchange. It is also one of its major arms suppliers. The association agreement between the EU and Israel, established in 2000 after the Oslo accords, is the most favourable of all those concluded by the bloc with third countries. In addition to zero customs duties on its exports of goods and services and visa-free travel for its citizens, the agreement gives Israel access to several major European funding and exchange programmes such as Horizon and Erasmus. However, article 2 of this agreement makes it conditional on Israel’s respect for international law and fundamental human rights. Whether or not to suspend it is therefore not a choice that the EU can make at will. Since the EU foreign affairs ministers found that Israel was not respecting these rights, EU leaders now have a legal obligation to suspend the agreement. Failure to do so would also be a serious violation of the association agreement with Israel.
continue reading