#eu-israel-relations

#eu-israel-relations

More than 300 former European diplomats and ex-officials have written to EU leaders urging a far more decisive response to the war in Gaza, including a full suspension of the bloc's cooperation agreement with Israel. Published soon after the opening of the UN general assembly in New York, the letter from the 312 signatories also called on all EU member states to recognise the state of Palestine, joining 147 countries that have already done so.

In her most extended condemnation yet of the Israeli government, von der Leyen criticised plans for illegal settlements that would split the occupied West Bank in half, as well as incitement of violence by extremist Israeli ministers, as a clear attempt to undermine the two-state solution. She made the remarks during her annual state of the union speech to the European parliament in Strasbourg, during which she depicted a turbulent world, where battle lines are being drawn and dependencies are ruthlessly weaponised.