BRUSSELS — Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas unveiled plans on Wednesday to downgrade trade ties with Israel and sanction top officials over findings of human rights abuses in Gaza, marking a major shift in the bloc’s approach to the Middle Eastern nation.
The planned measures — which must still be approved by member countries — aim to impose tariffs on some €5.8 billion of imported goods from Israel while sanctioning two hard-line members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The options put forward by the European Commission are more limited than those sought by some EU countries and officials.
But the proposals still mark a major policy shift for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has been under fire for months from some EU leaders, political groups and even members of her institution over what they say is a lack of action over abuses in Gaza.
Announcing the measures, Kallas said the EU had deliberately taken a targeted approach so as to avoid penalizing Israeli society at large and compel Netanyahu’s government to address humanitarian concerns in Gaza.
“I want to be very clear. The aim is not to punish Israel. The aim is to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” she said during a news conference in Brussels. “That’s why the proposals we are making are not really touching or affecting the people but putting pressure on the Israeli government to change course.”
The measures are expected to face opposition from some EU capitals.
They also prompted a furious reaction from Israel, with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accusing von der Leyen of empowering terrorist groups.
“It is profoundly disturbing that you, by advancing such a proposal are in practice empowering a terrorist organization responsible for and continuing to perpetrate heinous crimes,” he wrote in a letter obtained by POLITICO.
EU leaders blocking
The moves come after massive demonstrations on the streets of European cities as well as furious calls from some EU leaders, like Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, for the bloc to take stronger action against Israel.
Changing course more than nine months into her second term in power, von der Leyen used a landmark speech in Strasbourg to announce plans for both tariffs and sanctions against Israel.
The German politician decided to move ahead with these proposals despite the fact that EU countries are likely to block them from being formally adopted in the Council.
Plans to impose tariffs against Israeli imports must be approved by a qualified majority of EU countries, while agreement on the sanctions targeting Israeli Cabinet members must be unanimous. The Commission has also proposed additional sanctions against Hamas members.
So far, neither trade measures nor sanctions have obtained sufficient support due to persistent opposition from countries including Germany, Austria, Italy and Hungary. Prior to the Commission initiative, measures targeting Israel proposed by EU capitals have failed to win enough support in the European Council.
“I think the political lines are very much where they have been so far,” Kallas said when asked whether there was a chance of the measures now going through.
What’s in the deal
Concretely, Brussels is suspending parts of a wide-ranging free-trade deal known as the EU-Israel Association Agreement, first agreed in the year 2000, focusing on goods rather than services.
The proposed tariff measures target some 37 percent of Israel’s total exports to the European Union — worth around €16 billion in 2024 — to impose some €220 million in additional costs. The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner.
The EU is also moving to suspend €14 million in direct support for various Israeli projects, according to senior EU officials, but keeping in place EU funding for Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial as well as peace-building initiatives.
Asked why the Commission had opted for a limited approach, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said: “We are talking not only about the trade and not only about the numbers.”
“The discussion is very political,” he added.
Von der Leyen’s move comes days before the United Nations General Assembly, where French President Emmanuel Macron will make a push to get more countries to recognize Palestinian statehood. Both von der Leyen and Kallas plan to attend the gathering in New York.
This story has been updated.
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