The EU Commission has set out a proposal to suspend trade-related provisions of its association agreement with Israel, as well as sanctions on Hamas, extremist Israeli ministers, and violent settlers.
The Commission is also putting on hold bilateral EU support to Israel, with the exception of support to civil society and Yad Vashem.
The measures cover future yearly allocations between 2025 and 2027, as well as ongoing institutional cooperation projects with Israel and projects funded under the Regional EU-Israel cooperation facility.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said “suspending trade concessions and imposing sanctions on extremist ministers, violent settlers, and Hamas operatives would send a strong message from the European Union: this war must end, the suffering must stop, and the hostages must be released.”
The proposals follow a review of Israel’s compliance with Article 2 of the Association Agreement, which found that actions taken by the Israeli government represent a breach of essential elements relating to respect for human rights and democratic principles. This entitles the EU to suspend the Agreement unilaterally.
Specifically, the breach refers to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza following the military intervention of Israel, the blockade of humanitarian aid, the intensifying of military operations and the decision of the Israeli authorities to advance the settlement plan in the so-called E1 area of the West Bank, which further undermines the two-state solution.
The trade suspension concerns the core trade-related provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, meaning in practice that imports from Israel will lose their preferential access to the EU market. These goods will therefore be charged duties at the level applied to any other third country with whom the EU has no free trade agreement.
The EU Council now needs to adopt the decision with a qualified majority.
