European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday he asked member states to consider imposing sanctions on some Israeli ministers, but did not say who he was targeting.
“I initiated the procedure to ask the member states if they consider [it] appropriate to include in our list of sanctions some Israeli ministers [who] have been launching unacceptable hate messages against the Palestinians, and proposing things that clearly go against international law,” Borrell told reporters ahead of the informal meeting with EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels.
The informal foreign ministers meeting is set to focus on the war in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. The issue could come up again at the EU summit that will take place in Brussels Sept. 2-3.
On Tuesday, Borrell said he intends to ask member states to impose joint sanctions on Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Borrell’s request requires unanimous approval of all 27 EU members. Israeli diplomatic sources told Al-Monitor that chances of such an approval are low, especially since the EU is currently presided by Hungary, which is considered a friend of Israel. Israel is also hoping for a change of tone in Brussels once Borrell steps down at the end of the year, to be replaced by former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
On Aug. 12, Borrell condemned statements made by Ben-Gvir that the transfer of humanitarian aid and fuel to the Gaza Strip should be stopped “until all our abductees are returned home.” Borrell said on the X platform that sanctions should be on the EU agenda, and urged the Israeli government to distance itself from Ben-Gvir’s comments. “Like Minister Smotrich’s sinister statements, this is an incitement to war crimes,” Borrell noted.
The EU sanctions regime for human rights violations already includes nine individuals and five entities linked to Israeli settlements and Lehava, a right-wing Jewish supremacist group that is dedicated to preventing Jewish-Muslim mixed marriages.
