BRUSSELS — EU leaders asked the bloc’s top diplomat to develop a series of proposals for cutting back cooperation with Israel to encourage it to live up to its humanitarian obligations, according to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
Speaking in an interview with POLITICO on the sidelines of the European Council in Brussels on Thursday, Nausėda said that High Representative Kaja Kallas would present measures that could target trade and other ties with Israel within a month. The closed-door talks ran for more than an hour over their allocated time as member countries clashed over the best course of action.
“It was difficult, the discussion,” Nausėda said. “There are two groups of countries and some of them are more pro-Israel, and some of them are strictly opposing. But we see the truth in the middle where we are talking about a tragic humanitarian situation and children suffering.
“Nobody is able to tolerate this humanitarian situation right now. So we need decisions. And the high representative was asked to bring initial proposals to the table and she will do it … during July and probably the [Foreign Affairs Council] will take some measures,” he went on.
Kallas presented the findings of an internal review conducted at the request of 19 member countries — first obtained by POLITICO last week — that found the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have breached the terms of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. While backing Israel’s right to self-defense, the analysis cited an “unprecedented level of killing and injury of civilians,” attacks on hospitals and the displacement of an estimated 90 percent of the population of the territory.
Israel denies the allegations and has blasted the review as “outrageous.”
Ahead of Thursday’s summit, officials had indicated that Kallas would determine whether there was sufficient support in the room before undertaking to present options for concrete actions.
While tearing up the agreement would require the unanimous support of all member countries — with allies like Germany and Hungary vehemently opposed to the move — lesser measures, including slashing trade ties and sanctioning exports from illegal West Bank settlements, could theoretically be done with the support of a qualified majority of countries.
“In all these cases, Europe loses credibility. Everybody is looking at us and we can say only that we are deeply worried and deeply concerned,” Nausėda said.
A Commission spokesperson declined to comment.
This story has been updated.
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