{"id":246965,"date":"2023-10-30T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=246965"},"modified":"2024-07-01T08:20:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T07:20:08","slug":"a-divided-european-union-cant-even-agree-on-need-for-ceasefire-in-israeli-aggression-against-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/10\/a-divided-european-union-cant-even-agree-on-need-for-ceasefire-in-israeli-aggression-against-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"A Divided European Union Can\u2019t Even Agree on Need for Ceasefire in Israeli Aggression against Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

24 Oct 2023<\/em> – The European Union\u2019s initial response to the current Israel-Hamas war has been chaotic. Shortly after the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel \u2013 which left<\/a> at least 1,400 Israelis dead \u2013 Oliv\u00e9r V\u00e1rhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, announced<\/a> the suspension of \u201call payments\u201d by the European Commission to the Palestinians.<\/p>\n

The decision would have had very serious consequences as the EU is the biggest donor<\/a> of aid to Palestinians in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The European Commission finally announced<\/a> that it was tripling its annual humanitarian assistance for Gaza to over 75 million euros (around 80 million dollars, or 35 dollars per person). The plan<\/a> is for aid to be distributed through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza. Although two convoys of aid have entered<\/a> the Gaza Strip so far, Israel is only letting in a trickle of the aid Gazans need.<\/p>\n

V\u00e1rhelyi, who was put forward<\/a> as EU Commissioner by the far-right Hungarian government led by Viktor Orb\u00e1n, a close ally of Benjamin Netanyahu, acted unilaterally in announcing a halt of aid to Palestine and over 70 members of the European Parliament have called<\/a> for his resignation. Nevertheless, he has not been officially reprimanded by his superior, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.<\/p>\n

The whole controversy about aid to Palestine, which supposedly could have facilitated the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7, bears<\/a> no relation to reality. As the EU ambassador to Palestine recently explained<\/a> to Al-Jazeera, the EU delivers budgetary aid \u201conly to the Palestinian Authority\u201d in the West Bank and aid to the Gaza Strip ruled by Hamas is limited to \u201ca social aid allowance package which benefits poor families in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second element of chaos in the EU response to the Israel-Hamas war is the result of von der Leyen\u2019s visit to Israel alongside the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. In the aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, von der Leyen had already posted<\/a> on X that the EU \u201cstands by Israel today and in the next weeks.\u201d The statement appeared to condone what was already expected to be a particularly harsh Israeli response against the Gaza Strip, which has later materialized<\/a> with at least 4,651 Gazans dead.<\/p>\n

On October 10, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated<\/a> that some of the actions carried out by Israel in the aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attack were \u201cnot in accordance with international law.\u201d During her visit to Israel on October 13, however, von der Leyen spoke<\/a> next to Netanyahu and did not make a single mention of the need for restraint in Israel\u2019s response to the Hamas attack. All she said was that \u201chow Israel responds will show that it is a democracy.\u201d By the time von der Leyen met Netanyahu, around 1,400 people had already been killed<\/a> in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli bombings.<\/p>\n

The statements by von der Leyen were criticized by numerous EU member states, with Ireland being one of the most vocal<\/a>, but also within the EU institutions, both openly and behind closed doors. In a not-so-veiled reference to von der Leyen\u2019s statements during a a press conference in Beijing on October 14, Borrell stated<\/a> that the official position of the EU concerning foreign policy is determined \u201cby the guidelines, the high-level political decision of the European Union Council, chaired by President Michel and by the Foreign Affairs Council ministers chaired by me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Iratxe Garc\u00eda, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament \u2013 the second largest \u2013 expressed<\/a> that in their visit to Israel both Metsola and von der Leyen had failed in their duty \u201cto represent the position of the Union as a whole.\u201d A report<\/a> by Politico documented serious discontentment within EU institutions \u2013 including the EU Commission \u2013 with von der Leyen\u2019s failure to stress in Israel the importance of complying with international law. More recently, a letter signed by 842 staff members of EU institutions accuses<\/a> the EU Commission of giving \u201ca free hand to the acceleration and the legitimacy of a war crime in the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the current institutional infighting in the EU, the President of the European Council Charles Michel \u2013\u00a0 engaged<\/a> in a long-running rivalry with von der Leyen \u2013 is seen<\/a> as being on the side of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Their shared conviction that the EU Commission President is overstepping her attributions in representing the EU internationally is not a new phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Article continues after video
\nEU foreign ministers discuss \u2018contentious subject\u2019 of Gaza ceasefire \u2022 FRANCE 24 English<\/a><\/i><\/div>\n