Relations between Israel and the European Union have become even more fraught after the bloc found that Israel’s actions in Gaza, including the blockade of aid to the enclave, may have violated human rights obligations.
The findings came after a review by the European Union’s diplomatic service into whether Israel had violated a provision in a treaty that underpins relations between the two sides. Critics of Israel have called for the bloc to suspend the treaty, accusing the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of violating the rights of Palestinians en masse. Israel has rejected the accusations.
Under the terms of the treaty, the European Union and Israel agreed that their relationship “would be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.”
The review concluded that there are “indications that Israel would be in breach” of those standards, referring to several specific issues. Those included Israeli restrictions of essential goods and food into Gaza; attacks that the report said had caused a “significant number of casualties”; and military strikes on hospitals and medical facilities.
Because E.U. member states are sharply divided on Israel, it could be difficult to achieve the consensus needed to shift the bloc’s policies toward the nation. But the report’s conclusions underscored growing frustrations, including among some of Israel’s closest allies, over the handling of the war in Gaza.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, presented the review’s findings to a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
“Our first goal is to change the situation on the ground and help the humanitarian aid to get in and help the people,” Ms. Kallas said in a news conference after the meeting. “Today was the beginning of the debate, and not the end.”
Israel has strongly rejected the findings. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a response to the European Union, shared with The New York Times, that the review was “a complete moral and methodological failure.” The ministry pointed out that it “opens with an admission that it lacks the ability to verify its own statements.”
The next steps will be to present the finding to Israel, Ms. Kallas said. If the situation does not improve, officials could discuss other steps at their meeting in July, she added.
“Our main concern is the humanitarian aid distribution,” she said.
The back-and-forth underscored how tense relations between the European Union and Israel have become. The situation has become more complicated after Israel launched a major assault on Iran last week in a bid to cripple its nuclear program, one that now involves the United States: America struck three sites last weekend.
E.U. officials have spoken about the conflict with Iran cautiously, and there are divisions in Europe over how much to support Israel and America’s actions. European officials have widely urged a return to diplomacy to resolve the crisis.
Many European officials and diplomats have emphasized that the conflict with Tehran should not distract from what is happening in Gaza, but the combination of events has left Brussels struggling to agree on a unified stance toward Israel.
“When all the focus is on Iran and the escalation regarding Iran, we should not forget about Gaza and the terrible war that’s taking place there, and the terrible humanitarian situation,” Caspar Veldkamp, the Dutch minister for foreign affairs, told reporters on Monday.
The Netherlands had been vocal in pushing for the review. That was notable, since it had traditionally been seen as centrist on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said Hugh Lovatt, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
“That speaks to the growing frustration and anger amongst a number of European governments,” Mr. Lovatt said, adding that conversations “will continue to happen about other steps, whether it’s banning settlement products and financial services.”
Some member states have pushed for especially serious consequences.
“This is the time for action,” José Manuel Albares Bueno, Spain’s foreign minister, said as he headed into Monday’s meeting. He said he would call for a suspension of the agreement with Israel, along with an embargo on weapon sales to the country.
“Europe must show courage,” he added.
But in the end, the review and its findings might be more symbolically important than practically effective, because E.U. nations remain deeply split on issues related to Israel.
Imposing sanctions or suspending the agreement, for instance, would require unanimity among member states — which is unlikely. The prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, for example, is an ally of Mr. Netanyahu and would almost certainly not agree to impose restrictions on Israel.
Even more modest measures, like peeling back parts of the agreement, would require support from a substantial majority of European nations.
“It’s a complex situation,” Hadja Lahbib, the European commissioner for crisis preparedness, said on Monday.
Jeanna Smialek is the Brussels bureau chief for The Times.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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