Spain, Ireland and Slovenia on Tuesday jointly pushed to suspend a European Union agreement that grants special trade privileges to Israel. But the proposal failed to gain the required unanimous support for passage. |
The EU foreign ministers who supported the move cited concerns including Israel’s ongoing de facto annexation of the West Bank, rampant settler violence against Palestinians, and the genocide in Gaza. A recently passed Israeli law that makes the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians but not for Jewish Israelis has also provoked outrage. |
However, as expected, Germany and Italy declined to support the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, which has been in force since 2000. Instead, they called for direct discussions with Israel to address areas of disagreement. |
“We have to talk with Israel about the critical issues,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said. “That has to be done in a critical, constructive dialogue.” |
Ahead of the meeting, U.N. experts had called for the suspension of the association agreement, calling it the bloc’s “minimum requirement” under international law. “The EU cannot credibly claim to uphold human rights while sustaining preferential trade with a State whose conduct has been found by multiple international bodies as amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes,” they said. |
A suspension of the agreement was always going to be a tough sell, particularly for Germany and Italy, two countries that have long been staunch backers of Israel. They have yet to even sign on to a partial suspension of some trade-related sections of the pact. The European Commission proposed that step last year following an internal finding that Israel is likely violating its obligations under Article 2 of the agreement, which stipulates that EU-Israel relations “shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.” |
Yet the EU is unlikely to remain hamstrung on Israel forever. Israel is set to lose a key ally within the bloc in the coming weeks as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will step down following his defeat in elections earlier this month. Orban had been exercising its veto power against the bloc’s efforts to impose sanctions on far-right extremist settlers in the West Bank. |
Once a new government takes over in Budapest, those sanctions are likely to pass. That alone will not be tremendously meaningful to the targets of the sanctions, but it could help build momentum toward further action. |
Moreover, the governments in Berlin and Rome are coming under pressure from their respective populations. Italy saw some of the largest pro-Palestinian protests on the continent during Israel’s war in Gaza, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s continued backing for Israel is increasingly out of step with public sentiment—even among some voters who support her right-wing coalition. In Germany, opinion polls have found a sharp negative swing against Israel in recent years. |
The EU is Israel’s largest trade partner, so the fact that Brussels is even considering a suspension of the association agreement should set off alarm bells in Israel. But as a recent Guardian report pointed out, “Few Israelis appreciate the extent to which ties with Europe underpin their standard of living. Two-thirds of Israelis see the EU as an adversary, and only 14 percent as a friend, an August 2025 survey carried out by the Mitvim thinktank found.” |
Unfortunately, Israel’s current crop of far-right leaders do not appear inclined to heed criticism or undertake reforms. As long as that remains the case, it will only be a matter of time before the country faces an economic reckoning. |