EU Urges Israel to Increase Aid Efforts in Gaza

Last week, Kalla and Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar agreed to urgently allow more aid to Gaza. The result of this is now being discussed by the EU countries' foreign ministers in Brussels.

–We see some positive signs when it comes to opening border crossings... But of course, we must see more for there to be real improvements for the people on the spot, notes Kalla on his way into the meeting.

Several countries are pushing for tougher EU measures against Israel. There are calls to pause or even completely cancel the EU's economic-political cooperation agreement with the country.

No unanimity?

However, even to pause requires complete unanimity among the EU countries. At present, it is far away, considering the strong support that Israel still has from countries such as Hungary and the Czech Republic.

–I do not think it is realistic to believe that there could be unanimity behind such a decision, and I also think it is important to maintain forms for dialogue with Israel, says Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (The Moderate Party) to TT over the phone.

She herself is not participating in Tuesday's meeting, but is pushing to keep the pressure up, for example through sanctions against individual Israeli ministers who "actively counteract" a two-state solution.

Decision may be delayed

Kalla is expected to present various alternatives for EU measures to the member states during Tuesday. No decisions are expected yet – and may not come until the fall, at the next regular meeting of the foreign ministers.

But it depends on the situation.

–We never take a vacation. The discussion about the situation in Gaza is ongoing even between council meetings. If needed, we will convene extra meetings to be able to act, says Maria Malmer Stenergard.

Wiktor Nummelin/TT

Facts: How the EU can act against Israel

Here are some alternatives that the EU can take to put pressure on Israel:

Pause the cooperation agreement – which requires unanimity among all countries.
Pause the political parts – also requires unanimity.
Pause the trade parts (or parts of them) – requires "only" a qualified majority, which can be difficult to achieve if, for example, Germany or Italy do not give their support.
Impose sanctions on more settlers and/or ministers – also requires unanimity.