The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, informed EU Member States on Wednesday of his proposal to suspend political dialogue with Israel, diplomatic sources said.
This proposal from the head of European diplomacy is based on the provisions of Association agreement on human rightsEU diplomatic sources clarified.
The proposal will be discussed at the Foreign Affairs Council, scheduled for Monday soon in Brussels, to see what the Member States think.
In this way, Borrell fulfills his promise to bring this issue before the last Foreign Affairs Council who will chair before handing over to the Estonian Kaja Kallas.
According to reports from independent international organizations, there are reasons to consider that Israel violates human rightss and international humanitarian law, the sources added.
They noted that the proposal to suspend the political dialogue does not mean the suspension of the Association Agreement or the Association Council.
In fact, they added, this could be an issue that could be discussed in the Association Council with Israel.
Today, the proposal formally puts on the table the debate among member states about how they perceive Israel’s behavior and whether they think Israel’s government Benjamin Netanyahu could violate human rights and international humanitarian law.
At the same time, according to diplomatic sources, it is a “serious political signal” as to how the EU perceives the behavior of the Israeli authorities in the crisis file. war in Gaza and Lebanon.
This step comes after Borrell confirmed the impossibility of meeting the Association Council with Israel to listen to the head of diplomacy of this country, as requested by the Foreign Ministers of the Twenty-Seven before last summer .
