{"id":117139,"date":"2024-11-19T17:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T15:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117139"},"modified":"2024-11-19T13:05:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T11:05:21","slug":"19-00-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117139","title":{"rendered":"EU Ministers Reject Proposal to Suspend Dialogue With Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>EU Ministers Reject Proposal to Suspend Dialogue With Israel<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Algemeiner Staff<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
Let us not forget that those who collaborated with Hitler’s Germany were:
\n– Spain, France, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, and Turkey.<\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/strong>
\nThe same ones who today want to fulfill Hitler’s promises to the Muslim Arabs.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n
\n

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell attends a press conference on the day of EU-Ukraine Association Council in Brussels, Belgium, March 20, 2024. Photo: REUTERS\/Yves Herman<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

European Union foreign ministers on Monday did not support a proposal by the bloc\u2019s outgoing foreign policy chief to\u00a0suspend regular political dialogue with Israel<\/a>\u00a0in response to the Jewish state\u2019s ongoing military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell last week had proposed the suspension of dialogue in a letter to the bloc\u2019s foreign ministers ahead of their meeting on Monday in Brussels, citing \u201cserious concerns about possible breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza,\u201d the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas. He also wrote, \u201cThus far, these concerns have not been sufficiently addressed by Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposal was met with widespread resistance, with several ministers either expressing support for Israel\u2019s position or arguing that severing dialogue with the Jewish state would be counterproductive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that there are tragic events in Gaza, huge civilian casualties, but we do not forget who started the current cycle of violence,\u201d Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters after Monday\u2019s meeting in Brussels, seemingly referring to the fact that Hamas began the conflict with its invasion of southern Israel last Oct. 7. \u201cAnd I can tell you that there was no agreement on the idea of suspending negotiations with Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The regular dialogues that Borrell sought to break off were enshrined in a broader agreement on relations between the EU and\u00a0Israel, including extensive trade ties, that was implemented in 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of the above considerations, I will be tabling a proposal that the EU should invoke the human rights clause to suspend the political\u00a0dialogue\u00a0with\u00a0Israel,\u201d\u00a0Borrell\u00a0wrote last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

A suspension needed the approval of all 27 EU countries, an unlikely outcome from the beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n

German Foreign Minister\u00a0Annalena Baerbock<\/a>\u00a0publicly rejected the proposal last Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always in favor of keeping channels of dialogue open. Of course, this also applies to Israel,\u201d the German Foreign Office said of Borrell\u2019s plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Foreign Office added that, while the political conversations under the EU-Israel Association Council provide a regular opportunity to strengthen relations and, in recent months, discuss the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza, severing that mechanism would make little sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBreaking off dialogue, however, will not help anyone, neither the suffering people in Gaza, nor the hostages who are still being held by Hamas, nor all those in Israel who are committed to dialogue,\u201d the statement continued.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp similarly said that he disagreed with the proposal and that the EU needed to continue its diplomatic dialogue with Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cApparently, the high rep [Borrell] takes a 180-degree turn. I don\u2019t fully grasp that,\u201d Veldkamp told reporters in Brussels. \u201cIn the view of the Netherlands, this door should be kept open, and we should start a discussion with the Israeli ministers. There will soon be a new high rep. Let\u2019s use these opportunities to get a dialogue running, because there\u2019s a lot to discuss, including the catastrophic humanitarian situation the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Borrel, whose formal title is the EU\u2019s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, is set to leave his position, with his five-year term as the EU\u2019s foreign policy chief coming to an end next month. His successor is former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EU has been divided over how to address the war in Gaza. While some member countries, such as Spain and Ireland, have been\u00a0fiercely critical of Israel<\/a>\u00a0since the outbreak of the conflict, calling on the bloc to review and even suspend its free trade agreement with Israel, others have been more supportive. For example, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic have so far largely backed Israel\u2019s military efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the member states considered that it was much better to continue having a diplomatic and political relationship with\u00a0Israel,\u201d Borrell told a press conference after the meeting on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut at least I put on the table all the information produced by United Nations organizations and every international organization working in Gaza and the West Bank and in Lebanon in order to judge the way the war is being waged,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier, Borrell said he had \u201cno more words\u201d to describe the situation in the Middle East, before chairing his last planned meeting of the bloc\u2019s foreign ministers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI exhausted the words to explain what\u2019s happening in the Middle East,\u201d he said, citing the death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. \u201cThere [are] no more words.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hamas launched the ongoing conflict with its invasion of southern Israel last Oct. 7. During the onslaught, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands more, and kidnapped over 250 hostages while perpetrating mass sexual violence and other atrocities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas\u2019s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the Israeli military.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another challenge for Israel is Hamas\u2019s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza\u2019s civilian population and\u00a0commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals<\/a>, schools, and mosques to run operations, direct attacks, and store weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said last month that Israel has delivered over 1 million tons of aid, including 700,000 tons of food, to Gaza since it launched its military operation a year ago. He also noted that Hamas terrorists often hijack and steal aid shipments while fellow Palestinians suffer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Israeli government has ramped up the supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza in recent weeks under pressure from the United States, which has expressed concern about the plight of civilians in the war-torn enclave.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Borrell said ahead of the meeting that his proposal was meant to put pressure on the Israeli government\u00a0after it had, in his view, ignored several pleas to adhere to international law\u00a0in the\u00a0Gaza war.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany people tried to stop the war in Gaza \u2026 this has not happened yet. And I don\u2019t see a hope for this to happen. That\u2019s why we have to put pressure on the Israeli government, and also, obviously on the\u00a0Hamas\u00a0side,\u201d Borrell said, without mentioning\u00a0Hamas\u2019s rejection of recent ceasefire proposals<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Borrell has been one of the EU\u2019s most outspoken critics of Israel over the past year. Just six weeks after Hamas\u2019s Oct. 7 attacks, he\u00a0drew a moral equivalence<\/a>\u00a0between Israel and the terrorist group while speaking to the European Parliament, accusing both of having carried out \u201cmassacres\u201d while insisting that it is possible to criticize Israeli actions \u201cwithout being accused of not liking the Jews.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Borrell\u2019s speech followed a visit to the Middle East the prior week. While in Israel, he delivered what the Spanish daily\u00a0El Pais<\/em>\u00a0described as the \u201cmost critical message heard so far from a representative of the European Union regarding Israel\u2019s response to the Hamas attack of Oct. 7.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot far from here is Gaza. One horror does not justify another,\u201d Borrell said at a joint press conference alongside then-Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. \u201cI understand your rage. But let me ask you not to let yourself be consumed by rage. I think that is what the best friends of Israel can tell you, because what makes the difference between a civilized society and a terrorist group is the respect for human life. All human lives have the same value.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Months later, in March of this year, Borrell claimed that Israel was imposing a famine on Palestinian civilians in Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war. His comments came a few months before the United Nations Famine Review Committee (FRC), a panel of experts in international food security and nutrition,\u00a0rejected the assertion<\/a>\u00a0that northern Gaza was experiencing famine, citing a lack of evidence. Borrell\u2019s comments\u00a0prompted outrage from Israel<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In August, Borrell pushed EU member states to\u00a0impose sanctions on some Israeli ministers<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday, beyond his push to suspend EU-Israel dialogue, Borrell also sought to introduce a ban on the import of products from Israeli settlements in \u201coccupied Palestinian territories according with the rules of the\u00a0International Court of Justice<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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EU Ministers Reject Proposal to Suspend Dialogue With Israel Algemeiner Staff Let us not forget that those who collaborated with Hitler’s Germany were: – Spain, France, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, and Turkey. The same ones who today want to fulfill Hitler’s promises to the Muslim Arabs. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell attends a press […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117139"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117161,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117139\/revisions\/117161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}