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Brussels – The European Union has formally invited a meeting of the Union Council with Israel to address the issue of respect for human rights in Israel within the framework of bilateral relations, following the catastrophe facing Gaza, European sources reported on Wednesday.
“As agreed last week in the Foreign Affairs Council, I have extended an invitation to Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to attend the Council of the EU-Israel Ad Hoc Association,” said the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, via the social network X.
EU foreign ministers agreed in late May to ask Israel to convene a joint committee, the main platform for the two sides to resolve relations, but for this to happen, the Israeli authorities must accept it and the G27 must also accept the arrangement. They reached a common position at the meeting and finally reached this position.
The Community countries remain reluctant to analyse Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.
The Security Council has been in favor of dealing with Israel on a number of issues, such as complying with the International Court of Justice’s demands to immediately halt its military operations in southern Gaza, unfreezing the Palestinian Authority’s funds to avoid suffocating it, and allowing the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to operate.
Meanwhile, at the European Commission’s daily press conference, Borrell’s spokesman Peter Stano “firmly rejected” any accusations of anti-Semitism against the high representative.
He therefore responded when asked about a statement approved by the European Jewish Association at its annual conference held the day before in Amsterdam, in which he stressed his concern about “the obvious and recurring anti-Israel bias that contributes significantly to anti-Semitism and the defamation of the State of Israel in the European public space,” both Borrell and his spokesperson said.
Stano stressed that Borrell is committed to “reaching consensus on positions and actions on important developments in the field of EU foreign policy, which also concerns the Gaza conflict.”
He denied that the Spanish politician was biased against Israel and assured that he was concerned about the loss of innocent lives in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, the Gaza hostages and the civilians killed in the ongoing hostilities in Gaza.
“He is working to find solutions that will finally break the cycle of violence and provide a sustainable response to the legitimate security concerns of Palestinians and Israelis. “This is not anti-Semitic,” he concluded, making it clear that it is the member states that must judge their work.
(dynamic)
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