EU & Israel-Palestine: A New Approach
The European Union’s role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been limited. Internal disunity and varying approaches among member states hinder effective action, yet a new approach is needed. This analysis underscores why the EU must overcome its internal divisions to broker peace, supporting efforts, confronting spoilers, and upholding international law. To achieve a lasting resolution, the EU needs a concrete plan that leverages its financial power and past duty, as detailed in News directory 3. The article explores Europe’s past role, historical missteps, and the need for a more active peacemaking role. It highlights the EU’s historical obligation to intervene to address human rights violations and offers lessons from its past. Discover what’s next.
EU Must Overcome disunity to Broker Israel-palestine Peace
Updated June 28, 2025
Despite its important presence in the region, the European Union has played a largely auxiliary role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Over the past two decades, many European governments have considered a two-state solution unattainable, making it a low priority. Maintaining the status quo, with rhetorical condemnations of certain Israeli actions, seemed manageable to many Europeans.
However, this approach has proven inadequate. As Europe and the world have watched, the failure to secure a lasting peace, where both israelis and Palestinians have the right to self-determination, has become increasingly costly.
While some European governments are hesitant to intervene in other countries’ affairs,given their colonial history,Europe can no longer afford to remain on the sidelines.The recent conflict,triggered by Hamas’s oct.7 attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli war on Gaza, along with escalations involving Iran, threatens Europe’s security. Moreover, europe’s history compels it to intervene against violations of international law. The EU’s experience in overcoming cycles of war and fostering collaboration between former adversaries offers valuable lessons for the aftermath of the Gaza conflict.
Many European leaders have called for a more active EU role in peacemaking and are increasing their individual efforts.However, a concerted plan is needed. This plan should include the EU embracing its responsibility in the Middle east, leveraging its financial power, supporting those who seek peace, confronting spoilers, protecting those who expose facts on the ground, backing the UN, and consistently upholding international law. Above all, the EU must address internal obstacles caused by its member states’ differing stances on israel.
Europe’s Historical Responsibility
Europeans bear significant responsibility for the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, both as original perpetrators and historical accomplices. Anti-Semitic European nationalisms and colonial tropes in the 19th century contributed to the rise of Zionism. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, European powers divided the region, creating boundaries, exacerbating local divisions, and exploiting resources. the 1917 Balfour Declaration,while promising to protect the rights of non-Jewish communities in Palestine,was not adequately enforced. These factors set the stage for the Holocaust.
These historical events obligate Europeans to prevent the annihilation of Israel, the safe haven sought by Jews after the Holocaust.However, Europe also bears responsibility for the victims of its victims. After the end of the British mandate in Palestine, Israel’s 1948 war of independence, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs, Europeans did not challenge the UN’s failure to implement its partition plan, which would have established a homeland for both peoples, according to the article.
Supporting Peace Efforts
The EU should actively support civil society groups working for peace through mutual respect, empathy, and recognition. The EU should highlight the peace efforts of Israeli and Palestinian activists, such as the alliance for Middle East Peace, Women Wage Peace, and the Parents Circle-Families Forum, in both Israel and the Arab world. The EU should also oppose Israel’s proposal to tax foreign aid to peace organizations and counter pressure on civil society groups that oppose the Palestinian leadership.
The EU could also support a citizens’ “peace assembly” of randomly selected Israelis and Palestinians to design a path to peace.This assembly would convene on neutral ground over several months,giving citizens a greater say in their future.
Confronting Spoilers
the EU must apply the lesson that international relations are not a zero-sum game when dealing with spoilers in the Middle East. While the EU has rightly designated Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as terrorist entities, it has done little to sanction Israeli settlers who commit violence against Palestinians.The EU has also not acted against Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. This unbalanced pressure strengthens hard-liners on both sides of the conflict.
Unbalanced pressure strengthens spoilers on both sides of a conflict.
Consistency is crucial to avoid accusations of double standards. The EU cannot ban imports from Russian-occupied Ukraine while failing to do so for products from illegal West Bank settlements. Nor can it call on other states to honor the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin while not enforcing the same warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,the article states.
The EU could revoke visa waivers for settlement residents and implement Schengen-wide entry bans. By imposing visa requirements only on West Bank Palestinians and not on settlers,the EU becomes complicit in an “apartheid-style regime.” The EU-Israel Association Agreement, the legal framework governing relations since 2000, could be reexamined, with Article 2 providing a basis to reconsider the agreement due to human rights violations.
At a minimum, the EU could initiate a formal review of the agreement, suspend summits and high-level political contacts, or suspend Israel’s participation in EU programs like Erasmus+. Suspending the agreement’s trade provisions, effectively pausing Israel’s preferential tariffs, would send a strong message. The EU should also ban imports from illegal settlements, which fall outside the Association Agreement, in line with a 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion.
While unanimous support is needed to suspend the entire agreement, most experts believe that only a qualified majority vote is needed to suspend its trade provisions.Given that the EU has only suspended preferential trade provisions with Myanmar and Cambodia, such a move would be highly symbolic. The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, should support this move at the next EU Foreign Affairs Council in July.
Upholding Values and International Law
The EU must uphold its values by supporting the free flow of factual facts. Hamas has suppressed media independence, while Netanyahu’s government has imposed a media blackout in Gaza. More journalists have been killed in Gaza than in any previous armed conflict. Israel refuses to cooperate with UN investigators and defies International Court of Justice orders.
Hate speech, incitement, and disinformation online are fueling anti-Semitism and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hatred. The EU can use its regulatory powers over social media companies to dissolve digital echo chambers by requiring them to disclose and adapt their algorithms.
While there is no moral equivalence between a democratic state and a terrorist group, the rule of law must be applied impartially. the EU must make it clear that it will not tolerate efforts to intimidate international courts. Recent threats and sanctions against ICC officials by Israel and the United States challenge the multilateral legal order.
The EU’s 1996 Blocking Statute, designed to shield EU companies from U.S. sanctions, should be updated to protect institutions like the ICC from coercive measures. A revised Blocking Statute should include provisions to resist extraterritorial pressure, and the EU should consider targeted sanctions against those who obstruct international justice mechanisms.
Overcoming Disunity
Europeans need to discuss their disunity in condemning Israel or recognizing a Palestinian state. This disunity has prevented the EU from using its leverage effectively. The Gaza war has highlighted the EU’s inability to make timely decisions, even when a majority of member states agree. For example, despite a majority supporting a cease-fire in October-November 2023, the EU could not act decisively.
Europe must improve its decision-making processes to uphold its values. While the Common Foreign and Security Policy requires unanimous votes for military, defense, sanctions, and foreign policy decisions, member states could switch to qualified majority voting in some areas, though this requires unanimity.
Alternatively,a smaller group could establish a CFSP+ to utilize foreign policy tools not related to defense. This would allow them to use the EU’s trade, aid, and political leverage more decisively. The Israeli-Palestinian crisis has shown how easily the EU can be paralyzed on divisive subjects. Overcoming the effect of 27 veto powers is crucial for both European policy and the Middle East.This change might make it easier for the EU to help design a peace plan incorporating the views of all relevant actors in the region. If a majority of member states can coalesce around a vision, the rest might follow.
What’s next
By addressing its internal divisions and taking decisive action,the EU can play a more effective role in fostering peace between Israelis and Palestinians,drawing on its own history of overcoming conflict to inspire its neighbors.