EU ministers to debate curbing trade with Israeli settlements

BRUSSELS, July 13 (Reuters) – European Union foreign ministers will on Monday explore whether there is enough support for new measures to curb trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to diplomats and officials.

The discussion will be based on a confidential paper by the European Commission that floats three different options – an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs or a ban, a senior EU diplomat and a European official said.

The EU has long struggled to take major decisions on Middle East policy because of deep and longstanding divisions among its 27 member countries, particularly on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But pressure from member governments to take action on settlements has grown in recent months because of increasing violence by Israeli settlers and frustration with Israeli Prime Minister ​Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has expanded settlements.

In May, the EU imposed sanctions on four entities and three individuals over what it described as serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.

In a July 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements in the West Bank are illegal and that states should take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that help maintain the situation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar last year described a push by some European governments to implement the advisory opinion as “shameful”.

U.N. bodies and most countries have found Israel’s settlements in the West Bank to be illegal. Israel rejects this, viewing the territory as disputed and saying a Jewish presence has existed there for thousands of ​years.

“I think what you will see on Monday is a discussion on the options, and we will get a bit of a picture of where everybody is,” said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential internal deliberations.

Diplomats said they did not expect a formal decision on any particular measure on Monday.

Divisions over the issue also extend to how any decision could be taken.

Some diplomats say banning trade with the settlements would require a qualified majority – at least 15 EU states, representing ​65% of the bloc’s population. But the Commission’s paper suggests it believes a ban could require unanimous support, a bar that would make a decision highly unlikely.

European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho has confirmed that a paper has been shared with member countries but declined to comment on its contents.

(Reporting by Lili Bayer and Andrew Gray)

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