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EU Lays Out Israel Tariffs, Sanctions 09/18 06:02
The European Union on Wednesday laid out its toughest plan yet to pressure
Israel to end the war in Gaza as Palestinians fled en masse from Israeli tanks,
drones and troops pushing deeper into the coastal enclave ravaged by 23 months
of war.
BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union on Wednesday laid out its toughest plan
yet to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza as Palestinians fled en masse
from Israeli tanks, drones and troops pushing deeper into the coastal enclave
ravaged by 23 months of war.
Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, urged the 27 member nations to
increase tariffs on some Israeli goods and impose sanctions on Israeli
settlers, and two members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet --
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel
Smotrich. She also proposed sanctioning 10 Hamas leaders.
"We are proposing these measures not to punish Israel or Israel people, but
to really try to pressure (the) Israeli government to change course and to end
the human suffering in Gaza," Kallas said at a press conference in Brussels.
"The war needs to end, the suffering must stop, and all hostages must be
released."
The sanctions would freeze any of the individuals' European assets and ban
travel within the EU.
The EU is Israel's largest trading partner, so the tariffs could have
far-reaching effects on Israel's economy, which is already rattled by the cost
of a long war. Roughly 32 million euros ($37.5 million) in bilateral funds
controlled by the European Commission would be immediately suspended. The
commission also gives support to the Palestinian Authority.
Israel denies there is starvation in Gaza and says it allows in enough
humanitarian aid.
The proposed sanctions reflect worsening relations between Europe and
Israel. Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen broke
with her strong pro-Israel stance to call for European pressure on Israel over
its military campaign in Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar sent a strongly worded letter to von
der Leyen accusing her of empowering a terrorist organization and vowing that
Israel will buck the European campaign.
"Pressure through sanctions will not work. The State of Israel is a proud
sovereign nation, and we will not be bent through threats while Israel's
security is at stake," he wrote in the letter.
EU members divided over Israel
The 27-nation EU has been split over the past 23 months of war in the Gaza
Strip. It's unclear whether a majority will agree to endorse the sanctions and
trade measures.
The bloodshed in Gaza has prompted protests in multiple European cities,
from Amsterdam to Barcelona, and fueled criticism of Brussels' bureaucracy and
its perceived inability to meaningfully pressure Israel to halt military
operations and let in more humanitarian aid.
The death count in Gaza on Wednesday surpassed 65,000 Palestinians since the
war began Oct. 7, 2023, with a Hamas-led attack on Israel, according to health
officials in the enclave.
"The proposed partial suspension is a carefully considered response to an
increasingly urgent situation," said Maro efovi, the European
Commission trade representative.
What's in the proposal
If enough EU nations agree, tariffs amounting to about 230 million euros
($166 million) will be slapped on the 37% of the 15.9 billion euros total of
Israeli goods imported to the EU, efovi said. The EU currently levies no
tariffs on that set of Israeli goods due to an Association Agreement.
A review by the EU diplomatic corps found in June that Israel had violated
the human rights component of that agreement, called Article 2. European
critics of Israel have called on the entire trade deal to be suspected over the
war in Gaza.
But for now, the commission is proposing to revoke the zero-tariff
preference for a select amount of imported Israeli goods and instead fall back
on World Trade Organization tariffs, which vary from 8% to 40% on individual
goods.
The proposal followed the announcement last week by von der Leyen that she
will seek sanctions and a partial trade suspension against Israel over its
military campaign in Gaza.
European officials speaking on background said that Israel's military
campaign in Gaza and also increasingly violent settlement activity in the West
Bank spearheaded by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich had given "new momentum" to the
sanctions. But they said that Israeli arms exports to the EU will remain
unaffected under the proposal.
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