Middle East conflict: Because of Gaza: EU Commission suggests sanctioning Israel

The EU Commission proposed sanctions against Israel due to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. As the authority, led by President Ursula von der Leyen, announced in the evening, she recommends that the Member States partially suspend Israel’s participation in the Horizon Europe research promotion program.

“While Israel announced a daily humanitarian break of the fights in the Gaza Strip and fulfilled some of his obligations as part of the joint agreement on humanitarian aid and access, the situation remains serious,” said the reason.

It also refers to an analysis of EU auditors, which has come to the conclusion that Israel violates the principle of respect for human rights with his approach in the Gaza Strip. This has been determined in an association agreement between the two sides as a prerequisite for close cooperation.

Specifically, Israel is primarily accused of having granted any deliveries from relief goods for the approximately two million Palestinians in the sealed Gaza Strip.

Majority decision for sanctioning sufficient

According to the EU Commission, no unanimous decision by the Member States is necessary for the implementation of the sanction proposal now submitted. It is therefore sufficient if 15 of the 27 EU countries agree to him that together represent at least 65 percent of the population of the participating Member States.

In Brussels it was expected that the committee of the constant representatives of the Member States at the EU was already dealing with the proposal this Tuesday and advising on the further procedure.

Control criticism from Israel

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the sanction recommendation in a first reaction as “incorrect, unfortunate and unjustified”. At a time when Israel struggles against the jihadist terrorism of Hamas, such a decision only serves to strengthen Hamas. Israel will work to ensure that the recommendation will not be accepted by the EU Council of Ministers.

Germany sees sanction claims critical

Among other things, countries such as Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic had recently repeatedly critically commented on sanction claims towards Israel.

According to the EU Commission, the participation of Israeli institutions in activities that are financed through the European Innovation Council (EIC) would be suspended. For example, start-ups and small companies that work in the field of cyber security, drones and artificial intelligence would be hit. The participation of Israeli universities and researchers in cooperation projects and research activities within the framework of Horizon remains unaffected by the proposed measure.