EU-Israel policy: Fund misuse & sanctions divide West
The UK, Canada, and other Western allies have announced sanctions against two hardline Israeli ministers for "repeated incitement to violence against Palestinians," a robust joint move that comes amid growing Western condemnation of Israel's actions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will now face a travel ban and asset freezes, as announced by the British government.
The sanctions are being jointly imposed by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom, according to a joint statement from the foreign ministers of the five countries.
Of course, it's one thing to call for sanctions, and another to implement them. The chance of such measures being taken at the EU level is, for now, almost zero, given that member states friendly to Israel, such as Hungary, have veto power.
The EU's policy towards Israel and the Palestinian Authority has always been complex and—some have said—schizophrenic.
To summarize it somewhat, the US has always been Israel's biggest backer, while the European Union has been a primary financier of the Palestinians, alongside most Arab states.
Now, however, not only is the EU itself in the midst of a financial crisis, but this coincides with a series of reports about fund misuse, embezzlement, and the fact that European money may have not only paid the salaries of officials and teachers in the West Bank and Gaza but also served to finance terrorist actions.
All this comes on top of a climate of political correctness within a significant portion of the EU member states' populations. This has led, for example, to Brussels requiring Israel to clearly label certain imported products—generally fruits and vegetables—to specify whether they originate from Israel proper or from the "occupied territories"—meaning the Jewish settlements established in the West Bank, in what is internationally considered Palestinian territory—so that consumers can boycott those products at will.
But there's always the ever-present risk of provoking Washington's wrath. US Senator Marco Rubio attacked London and the other Western countries seeking to sanction Israel, telling them "not to forget who the real enemy is."
Translation by Iurie Tataru
