Comment on climate change towards Israel: EU gives the wrong signal
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas (left) with Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. Photo AFP, John Thys
European Union
In just a few weeks’ time, the European position towards Israel and Gaza is changing. You don’t have to be a visionary to notice that. But this gives the wrong signal to both Israel and its enemies.
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Long ago, it was an honourable matter to support Israel. The Jews were victims of the Holocaust that took place in Europe. Parties on the left and the right felt that it was the right thing to do to support Israel. Against this background, the peace agreements in Oslo were welcomed in 1993.
But all that is history. After the year 2000, the image of Israel has changed dramatically. More and more, the country came under criticism. And even in the weeks after 7 October 2023, people felt it necessary to defend the “right to self-defence” of Israel.
In the meantime, much has happened. The Israel Defence Force has been in Gaza for 18 months without reaching its goal: to bring back safety.
In Europe, patience is decreasing at a fast pace. More and more people are protesting against the military operation. Even mayors and cities are calling on the governments to put Israel under pressure to stop the violence in Gaza.
This week, the European Union started a study on whether the human rights clause in the Association Agreement with Israel is still respected. If not, this should have consequences.
Remarkably, a substantial majority of 17 EU countries support that research. Of the larger countries, only Germany and Italy support Israel in this. From a diplomatic point of view, this is a big loss for the Jewish state.
Of course, research is not political. There are no conclusions yet. But still, such a decision reflects a climate change. Everybody knows that in the war in Gaza, there have been serious mistakes. One would say they were unavoidable; for another, they were done deliberately. However, making a list of errors that count as a breach of the human rights clause is not difficult.
Israel sees this EU decision as a threat. Countries that have lived in peace for 80 years have already come to rebuke Israel. This is an understandable sentiment.
There is another element too. The EU has supported the Palestinians for years. Of course, Europe is not in favour of terrorism. However, the EU could have been more critical.
Undoubtedly, the EU has to uphold a human rights standard. But for this reason, does Israel not deserve more credit than Hamas?
Many Israelis have roots in Europe, and they brought European culture and values to the Middle East. The Jewish state is still the only democracy in the region. No other country in the Middle East is as near to Europe as Israel. The EU would do better to cherish this. Israel is not Russia or Iran.
Such a study also gives the wrong signal. We know that being critical of Israel is not the same as antisemitism. But this also has another side. Political leaders who engage in discourse that is critical towards Israel have to reckon with the fact that they facilitate antisemitism because antisemites use anti-Zionism to express their feelings in a ‘legal’ way.
There is another reason to be more patient in our solidarity with Israel. This Jewish state exists (partly) because of the Shoah that took place in Europe. The West has supported Israel to have its state in Palestine, starting with the famous UN vote in 1947. But this country still deserves support, also in the fight against terrorism.
This does not mean that Israel cannot be criticised. But coming from a peace paradise, as we Europeans, we do not always realise that living in a country that is under attack changes your culture of self-defence. Fighting terrorism should be a priority here. That is the proper signal.
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