By Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff* – Politico
The bloc’s failure to step up carries serious geopolitical costs.
Since Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and the devastating war in Gaza that’s followed, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and much of the Strip now lies in ruin.
EU leaders have issued countless calls to respect international law and pursue a two-state solution — but when it comes to action, the bloc has been largely absent. A “paper tiger” loud in rhetoric but toothless in practice, it wasn’t even invited to ceasefire or hostage negotiations.
And Europe’s failure to step up carries serious geopolitical costs.
The bloc’s marginalization on Gaza is partly self-inflicted, as it settled for being a payer of aid rather than a diplomatic player. It poured billions into assistance for Palestine and offered routine support for a two-state solution, while shying away from putting political pressure on Israel.
Meanwhile, Brussels gave Israel unfettered access to its market without seeking to leverage to push for the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestine and sustainable peace.
Simply put, aid and trade became Europe’s default instead of hard diplomacy — a far cry from the geopolitical role trumpeted in the Lisbon Treaty.
Of course, as a union of 27 nations, the EU faces structural hurdles. Member countries’ interests often diverge — some (such as Germany) are staunchly pro-Israel while others (such as Ireland) lean pro-Palestinian — making a unified stance difficult. EU foreign policy still requires unanimity, so any single holdout can veto collective action. And even though the bloc’s rules allow majority votes or coalitions of the willing, these tools have never been used.
The continued insistence on full consensus has led to paralysis, fueling the criticism that Europe acts too little, too late.
Meanwhile, by turning a blind eye to blatant rights violations in Gaza, the EU is also undermining its credibility as a champion of international law. The moral authority it gained by standing up to Russia is being diminished by its timidity on Israel, with many in the global south already perceiving a glaring double standard — a reality that goes some way in explaining why hardly any non-Western country joined Europe’s Russia sanctions.
This credibility gap also makes it harder for the EU to build the partnerships it needs to pursue “strategic autonomy” in an increasingly multipolar world.
Moreover, public opinion is shifting within Europe as well: Long one of Israel’s staunchest allies, Germany now has a majority of citizens opposing the Gaza war.
So, to salvage its influence and principles, Europe must move from words to deeds.
First, it needs to work with key Arab partners.
Peace in the Middle East isn’t possible without a full buy-in from Israel’s Arab neighbors. Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as Gulf states Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have a vital stake in how this war ends. Thus, Europe should coordinate closely with these countries in shaping a postwar settlement and working toward the establishment of an independent, viable and democratic Palestinian state. For this, last year’s revival of the Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative, a project dear to former High Representative Josep Borrell, offers a platform to build on.
Next, the bloc needs to stand up for international law and to support international legal efforts to address the conflict.
The EU and its members face third-party obligations with respect to the International Court of Justice’s consecutive orders from January, March and May 2024 on the situation in Gaza and to prevent genocide — a call Europe must heed by fully cooperating with war-crimes investigations. Given the appallingly high number of women and children killed in the conflict, European countries should also immediately stop their arms exports to Israel.
Additionally, as members of the International Criminal Court, European countries are obliged to enforce its arrest warrants. Hungary’s refusal to detain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a recent visit was a glaring breach. Europe must make clear that international law is not optional — even when inconvenient.
Then there’s the economic leverage Europe has at its disposal. The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner but has never used that to enforce the human-rights clause in its EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Nor has it effectively ensured that no benefits from this partnership, directly or indirectly, extend to Israel’s illegal settlements where more than 750,000 settlers now live — something that could entail barring products from those settlements and penalizing companies that aid in the occupation. And if Israel continues to flout international law, suspending the agreement should be considered.
Likewise, EU aid to the Palestinian Authority should be conditional on governance reforms, democratic legitimacy and unifying Palestinian leadership to lay the groundwork for a future Palestinian state comprising both Gaza and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
Finally, the bloc has to form coalitions of the willing. Europe can no longer allow one or two dissenters to hold its foreign policy hostage. If unanimity is impossible, willing members must band together and act anyway. Just as member countries are coordinating to bypass Hungary’s veto on Russia, the same can be done for the Middle East.
The horrific civilian toll in Gaza is actively testing whether the EU’s proclaimed principles mean anything. The bloc has the influence and resources to make a difference, and it still has considerable tools at its disposal to do so — what it lacks is the courage to act.
And if European leaders remain bystanders, their lofty declarations will ring ever more hollow.
*Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff is the former EU ambassador to the Palestinian Territory.
Read also: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/congress-silent-gaza