The European Union has reached an agreement to impose sanctions on violent Israeli settlers, breaking a long-standing impasse on the issue, though some officials consider it a minor advancement. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, emphasized that “violence and extremism carry consequences,” as the bloc moves to sanction Israeli organizations involved in the West Bank’s extremist activities. Despite this progress, there remains a lack of consensus among the 27 member states on implementing more severe trade sanctions against Israel.
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, announced that the EU is targeting Israeli groups that support the violent colonization of the West Bank, as well as their leaders, in response to what he termed “most serious and intolerable acts” that must be halted immediately. The complete list of those sanctioned has yet to be disclosed, but it reportedly excludes two controversial Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who were previously sanctioned by the UK for inciting violence against Palestinian communities.
The breakthrough in imposing sanctions came after Hungary’s new pro-EU government lifted its veto, a blockade previously maintained by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Alongside the sanctions on settlers, the EU will also target leading Hamas figures, Kallas confirmed. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, criticized the EU’s decision as an arbitrary political act, accusing it of targeting Israeli citizens and entities solely based on their political views without substantive justification.
While the sanctions are a step forward, they fall short of the measures some EU member states, particularly France and Sweden, have advocated for. The two countries have been pushing for tariffs on products from illegal settlements, arguing that increased pressure on Israel is necessary to stop its settlement policies. Sweden’s foreign minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, highlighted tariffs as the most feasible option, given that imposing a ban on products requires unanimity among all member states, whereas tariffs can be enacted with a majority vote.
Under the current EU-Israel association agreement, goods from the occupied territories do not benefit from preferential trade terms; however, trade with these regions is not fully prohibited. This ongoing debate within the EU reflects the complexities of aligning the bloc’s policies on Israeli settlements with its broader foreign policy objectives.