https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-eu-human-rights-review-genocide-palestine-gaza-politics/
Israel savages EU over ‘outrageous and indecent’ human rights review
Relations between Brussels and Israel hit a new low as European ministers gather to discuss whether to punish Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
JUNE 22, 2025 6:24 PM CET BY TIM ROSS
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The review is one of the most contentious foreign policy decisions facing the EU. It comes at an exceptionally sensitive moment in the Middle East conflict, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered American bombers to join Israel's military offensive and destroy Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend.
Monday meeting
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, will formally present the findings to ministers from EU governments at a meeting on Monday. The bloc will then need to decide what steps, if any, to take in response.
Potential action ranges from doing nothing to limiting parts of trade or other elements of the deal, and even suspending the entire agreement, though that would require an unlikely unanimous agreement from the bloc’s 27 countries.
The furor comes as leaders in Europe struggle to make progress in their effort to broker peace in the Middle East. Israel was frustrated with European powers for launching negotiations with Iran while it was still trying to win the war it began just over a week ago.
https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-iran-israel-keir-starmer-emmanuel-macron-friedrich-merz-europe/
Relations have grown increasingly strained in recent months amid ongoing difficulties supplying humanitarian aid to many thousands of people in Gaza who NGOs said were at serious risk of starvation. That Gaza crisis prompted EU governments including normally loyal Israel supporters such as the Netherlands to back calls for a review of the association agreement.
Israel said the process Kallas oversaw was “deeply troubling” and relied on evidence that was “rife with bias.” The European External Action Service, which Kallas leads, sent Israel a letter containing eight questions as part of its review process on June 12. Israel replied six days later.
“This is neither moral nor constructive diplomacy," the Israeli document said. "There was no due process. No hearing. No draft for comments, only a list of questions! Not even a minimal opportunity for Israel to respond, to defend itself, or to be treated with the respect owed to any sovereign nation — let alone one that is a strategic partner of the European Union.”
In the detail of its response to a series of eight questions from the EU review team, the Israeli government denied that it is “an occupier of Palestinian territories” and said Hamas continues to exercise governmental responsibilities in Gaza.
The voice of Germany will be key in deciding what happens next. Long a staunch ally of Israel, Germany’s leadership is now more outspoken in its critique of the Gaza situation, as is the European Commission's German president, Ursula von der Leyen.
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-friedrich-merz-blasts-israeli-offensive-gaza-strip/
Trump's decision to join Israel's direct war with Iran is also likely to shape the discussion over how the EU should respond to the Kallas review.
https://www.politico.eu/article/iran-warns-us-strikes-will-have-everlasting-consequences/