The war in Gaza: Europe would approve its first sanctions on Israel this Monday

Ministers have several options on the table. The most probable one, which according to diplomatic sources is practically impossible to stop because it must come out by a qualified majority, not by unanimity, It is the prohibition of exporting to Europe any product that originates from Palestine occupied by Israel.

The foreign ministers will also discuss the latest events in Ukraine and the situation in Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz, but without planned decisions.

The European Commission, chaired by Ursula von der Leyen who as a member of the German CDU has repeatedly refused to sanction Israel, tended up being forced by governments to prepare a document with options for chancellors. ‘Chancellor’ Kaja Kallas also pushed for sanctions.

Beyond these restrictions on trade from the occupied territories, which is the option that garners the most support and will hardly be blocked, the foreign ministers have other options that are politically They would be more difficult to approve. Some because they fall into foreign policy competencies for which unanimity is needed. And Germany would apply its veto.

The ministers will also have on the table the possibility of approve personal sanctions against far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. His colleague Bezalel Smotrich also appears in some documents, although the focus remains on Ben-Gvir, especially after videos of him threatening and humiliating European citizens of a flotilla of solidarity with Palestine that was boarded by Israel in the Mediterranean and its members transferred to Israel have appeared.

If Ben-Gvir is sanctioned They would seek to freeze all their assets in Europe, Any relationship with his Ministry would be severed and he would be prohibited from entering the European Union. It is also not very likely that Ben-Gvir would set foot in Europe because there are already several European judicial systems that have him in their sights due to the event of that flotilla.

An option that is still on the table but that would be difficult to approve because Germany would apply its veto would be the partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. It gives Israel the right to maintain preferential trade relations (the EU is its first trading partner) and to participate in scientific cooperation projects as if it were practically an EU Member State.

Various governments, such as the Spanish, Irish or Belgian They defend that this agreement be suspended alleging that Israel would be breaching its human rights clause. Spain, Ireland, Belgium, France and Sweden are, except for nuances, the countries that are moving the most so that this Monday European spokespersons can say that “the European Union approves its first sanctions against Israel.”

The role of Kaja Kallas has been changing. If in the first months after the Hamas attacks he sided, with Von der Leyen, on the side of Netanyahu’s government despite the fact that it had already begun massive bombings on Gaza, over the months, and especially in the last year, He veered until he was in favor of sanctions.

In mid-June, in a conversation on a private forum that ended up being leaked, Kallas said that Israel behaves like apartheid South Africa. The Israeli Government demanded a rectification that never occurred and then decided to break any relationship with the European chancellor. Kallas said what everyone in Europe thinks.

The European Commission, which is usually the one who pressures and prepares everything for sanctions packages to be approved, for example against Russia from 2022, drags its feet. If it were up to the executive arm of the European Union, there would be no sanctions against Israel.