Borrell Asks EU Members about Possible Sanctions on Some Israeli Ministers
Ireland, one of the EU’s most pro-Palestinian members said on Thursday that it backed Borrell’s suggestion.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday that he has asked the bloc’s members if they want to impose sanctions on some Israeli ministers for “hate messages” against Palestinians that he believes broke international law, Reuters has reported. Borrell did not name any of the Israeli ministers to whom he was referring or specify which messages he had in mind.
However, in recent weeks he has publicly criticised Israel’s far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for statements he has described as “sinister” and “an incitement to war crimes”.
“I initiated the procedure to ask the member states if they consider [it] appropriate to include in our list of sanctions some Israeli ministers [who] have been launching unacceptable hate messages against the Palestinians, and proposing things that clearly go against international law,” he told reporters on arrival at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Ireland, one of the EU’s most pro-Palestinian members said on Thursday that it backed Borrell’s suggestion.
Diplomats say that it is unlikely that the EU would find the necessary unanimous agreement among its 27 members to impose sanctions on Israeli government ministers. Nevertheless, Borrell’s decision to float such a proposal indicates the level of anger among some European officials about some Israeli ministers.
“We will be supporting Josep Borrell’s recommendation for sanctions in respect of settler organisations in the West Bank who are facilitating [the] expansion of settlements, and also to Israeli ministers,” Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin told reporters as he arrived at the Brussels meeting.
