An EU-wide ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements would be a “principled stance” to take for the bloc, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said, comparing illegal settlements in the West Bank to Russia’s occupation of Crimea. The EU foreign policy chief has long backed a push from several member countries to pressure the European Commission to ban trade with territories illegally occupied by Israel — an issue that divides capitals and has become a flashpoint in the rift between Kallas and the Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen. Kallas’ backing has so far failed to force the Commission’s hand.
In July, only a minority of EU foreign ministers called on the Commission to bring specific measures for member countries to vote on. While a handful of countries including the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden have pushed for bloc-wide restrictions, the Czech Republic has vowed to oppose any new sanctions — withholding the unanimity required among EU capitals. But the debate was reignited Tuesday when eight EU countries, including France, Spain and Ireland, joined the U.K. and Canada in a pledge to impose trade sanctions on Israeli settlements.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar vowed to “sever all contact” with the EU’s top diplomat in June, after reports that she had compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to apartheid-era South Africa.
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