The high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrellhas proposed in a written proposal to the EU Member States this Wednesday to suspend the political dialogue with Israel as requested by Spain and Ireland last January, diplomatic sources indicated. In the same, the head of European diplomacy bases himself on the provisions of the Association Agreement in Human Rights to take the drastic decision, according to the same sources.
The proposal will be discussed at the Foreign Affairs Council, which will be held on Monday at Brusselsfor to see what the Member States think on the matter. Borrell thus fulfills his promise to bring this issue to the last meeting with EU foreign ministers that he will chair before handing over to Estonia’s Kaja Kallas.
According to reports from independent international bodies, there are reasons to consider that Israel is violating human rights and international humanitarian law, added the sources, who pointed out that the proposal to suspend the political dialogue does not mean the suspension of the Association Agreement or the Association Council. In fact, they added, it may be something that can be discussed in the Association Council with Israel.
Now, the proposal formally puts on the table the debate among the member states over how they view Israel’s behavior and whether they believe that the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu may be violating human rights and international humanitarian law. At the same time, according to the aforementioned sources, it is a “serious political signal” on how the EU views the behavior of the Israeli authorities over the war in Gaza and Lebanon.
Unanimity
This step comes after Borrell noted the impossibility of convening the Association Council with Israel to hear the head of diplomacy of that country, as the foreign ministers of the EU-27 had requested before last summer.
Spain urged Borrell in February to analyze in one month’s time whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations. in the framework of the Association Agreement governing relations between the European bloc and Tel Aviv, following the joint request with Ireland.
A month earlier, in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Spain and Ireland requested measures against Israel in the context of the Association Agreement, the framework governing relations between the EU and Israel. A full suspension of the agreement would be in the hands of the Member States once proposed by the High Representative or by the Community Executive itself, and requires unanimity.