BRUSSELS — The European Union’s foreign ministers agreed Monday to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians after Hungary’s new government lifted the country’s veto.
The decision, which required unanimity in the 27-nation bloc, will impose a travel ban and freeze assets of a group of Israeli settlers and organizations and sanctions on Hamas members. Former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (and also President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin), had long blocked the measure, but he was voted out of power in April. The decision of his successor, Péter Magyar, to drop the country’s opposition ended a months-long deadlock.
“Violence and extremism carry consequences,” said Kaja Kallas, the E.U.’s chief diplomat.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel “firmly rejects the decision,” which he described as “unacceptable” and “without any basis.”
The E.U. drafted the sanctions last year amid what the United Nations and independent rights groups said was rising violence and expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank. Settlers have attacked farming communities, torched property and sought to expel Palestinians.
The sanctions are to take effect once legal and technical work is complete. The names of the people and organizations to be targeted have not yet been made public. Kallas described them as “Israeli extremist settlers and entities” and “leading Hamas figures.” She said larger potential steps, including a French-Swedish proposal to halt trade with illegal Israeli settlements, still lack sufficient support among E.U. members.
Netanyahu’s government has supported the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank with a variety of measures. It has approved new settlements at a record rate; advanced building projects that had been put on hold for decades; and approved a plan to resume land registration, suspended six decades ago, under which Palestinians could be required to prove ownership predating the establishment of the Israeli state or forfeit their property.
An E.U. initial proposal would have imposed sanctions on two Israeli cabinet ministers, key figures in a push to annex the Palestinian territory. European officials say National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have incited violence against Palestinians. But some E.U. members expressed reservations against targeting them.
Relations between Israel and E.U. members, some of them longtime allies, have soured in recent years over Israel’s devastation of Gaza and, more recently, its invasion of Lebanon.
As Israel’s largest trading partner, the bloc has some leverage, and it has been under pressure from lawmakers and the public to take action, but it has been hesitant and divided. Positions among the 27 members range from the stalwart support for Israel of Germany to the recognition of Palestinian statehood by France, Portugal and others.
Some countries, including Spain and Ireland, have accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and pushed the E.U. to suspend political and trade relations.
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, has proposed suspending some of the trade benefits Israel receives in the E.U., such as reduced tariffs, but the approach has failed to gain sufficient support.
Swedish Foreign Minister Malmer Stenergard said Monday that the proposal with France to halt or limit trade with settlements would “put more pressure on Israel.”
The International Court of Justice advised countries in 2024 to abstain from trade that perpetuates what it said was an illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
“It is absolutely essential that we align ourselves with international law,” Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said Monday. She said she had seen “a shift” in which more E.U. members are trying to “respond to what is just unacceptable behavior by Israel.”
Countries including Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands, meanwhile, are moving ahead with national-level trade bans.
Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister, expressed frustration with more hesitant states. “Some tell us that history means we are eternally indebted to Israel, but that is not an excuse,” he told reporters before the meeting Thursday. “We can’t accept simply closing our eyes.”
Ellen Francis contributed to this report.
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