Israeli foreign minister slams ‘shameful’ request by nine EU nations amid Iran war

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar slammed as “shameful” a request by nine E.U. member states on Thursday that Brussels take action against goods and services originating from Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.

“It is regrettable that even when Israel fighting an existential threat which is in Europe vital interest—there are those who can’t resist their anti-Israeli obsession,” Sa’ar tweeted. “Shameful!”

Sa’ar was responding to Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, who led the initiative together with his counterparts in Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

Prévot said they asked the European Commission to investigate “how trade in goods and services linked to illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory can be brought into line with international law.”

The move came in response to the July 2024 non-binding advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which Prévot claimed “clearly states that third countries must refrain from any trade or investment that helps sustain an illegal situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

“We have not seen a proposal to initiate discussions on how to effectively discontinue trade of goods and services with the illegal settlements,” the nine ministers reportedly wrote in a missive to the E.U.’s foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, that was seen by Reuters.

“We need the European Commission to develop proposals for concrete measures to ensure compliance by the Union with the obligations identified by the Court,” they wrote, according to the press agency.

The request comes ahead of a meeting in Brussels on June 23, where E.U. foreign ministers are expected to discuss Israel’s compliance with the human rights provisions of the bloc’s trade deal with Jerusalem.

The probe was proposed by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, who wrote to Kallas in May requesting a review of the Hamas war.

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Among those who did not back a review was Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, who suggested the E.U. meet with Jerusalem to raise concerns.

Kallas has said that E.U. sanctions against Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria were ready, but that the measures have been blocked by one of its member states.

That country is Hungary, according to Reuters.

Early on June 13, more than 200 Israeli fighter jets attacked dozens of enemy targets, including military and nuclear sites, in a “preemptive, precise, combined” opening strike against Tehran’s nuclear program.

Since the start of the war on June 13, Iranian attacks on Israel’s civilian population centers have killed 24 people in the Jewish state.

Three were killed on Friday, 13 overnight on Saturday, and eight early on Monday.

Kallas, a former prime minister of Estonia, is a fierce critic of Russia’s war on Ukraine and has repeatedly criticized Tehran for its military support to Moscow, as well as its missile attacks on the Jewish state.

Last month, Kallas urged the Islamic Republic to “stop military support to Russia and raise concerns over detained E.U. citizens and human rights,” speaking during a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.