Von der Leyen recalls that the suspension of the Association Agreement with Israel “remains on the roof” of the 27

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has indicated that her Executive will present measures in mid-July to veto trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but she has reminded the Member States that are calling for more measures against Israel that the partial suspension of the Association Agreement has continued for ten months “on the roof” of the Twenty-Seven.

This is how the head of the Community Executive responded when asked during a press conference in Ireland – a country that is inaugurating the rotating president of the EU Council – about the lack of progress in the measures against Israel despite the deterioration of the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

Von der Leyen has assured that the European Union shares the diagnosis that the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank “is a problem” and that the violence associated with them “undermines” the viability of the two-state solution, “the only path to lasting peace.”

“For this reason, we have already agreed on sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers and Hamas figures, and the Commission will shortly present, as you know, an options document,” he explained, alluding to the request made by several member states to Brussels to veto trade with Israeli settlements.

Of course, he recalled that “10 months ago” the Commission proposed the suspension of the trade preferences of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and that the necessary support for its approval, a qualified majority among the Twenty-Seven, has not yet been gathered.

“It would have a significant economic impact, but this proposal is still on the table of the Member States, which must vote on it by a qualified majority. The ball is in the court of the Member States, we presented this proposal 10 months ago,” the German conservative insisted.

MAIN AID DONOR TO PALESTINE

In another vein, Von der Leyen has claimed that the European Union is “the largest provider of aid in the world for the Palestinian people” and that “no one does more” than the community bloc.

“Since October 2023, we have allocated more than €2.7 billion in humanitarian aid and budget support. We have organized 85 airlifts and delivered more than 5,600 tons of essential supplies,” he continued in his explanation.

The German conservative has also given as an example of community support for Palestine the recent adoption of sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers and the request of “many member states” that have proposed sanctioning Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.