Outgoing Israeli ambassador in Brussels Haim Regev urged EU countries to stop “their self-defeating obsession” with human rights in Gaza, also warning Israel’s critics in Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia that their recent actions of condemnation over violence in Gaza play into the hands of Hamas terrorists and antisemites.
In an exclusive interview with newspaper Politico, Regev also pleaded with European leaders to not suspend Israel’s role in the Horizon Europe research program- the EU’s key funding program for research and innovation- or cut back on trade.
“Now we are in a point where the EU or some elements are looking to suspend some of Horizon […] I’m not concerned about the economic [impact] or about the outcome. I’m concerned about the message that it will send and following that, my concern is that whatever we built in the last few years will fall down,” ambassador Regev told Politico.
In recent weeks, the relationship between the EU and Israel has strained. On August 11, 27 partners of the European supranational organization issued a joint press release, calling on the government of Israel to allow all international NGO aid shipments into the Gaza strip, unblock humanitarian actors so they can operate, and take immediate steps to facilitate United Nations (UN) access to the territory.
“The humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels. Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation. Humanitarian space must be protected, and aid should never be politicized,” the statement reads. It was co-signed by the foreign ministers of countries like Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, and Norway, among others.
Regev, however, stressed Israel’s unique positioning as the EU’s main ally in the Middle East. “We are basically a dream for the EU of a neighboring country,” he stated. “We are a democracy, there is no issue with migration, gay rights. It’s a dream.”
According to the EU, its relationship with Israel has been one of the most wide-ranging and deep with a third country. Since 2000, both Israel and the EU established regular political dialogue, particularly on the freedom of establishment and liberalization services, as well as free movement of capital.
Currently, the Middle Eastern nation is the EU’s 24th largest trading partner, although the EU is Israel’s first.
After October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas attacked Israeli civilian communities and military bases near its southern border, the EU has backed its Middle Eastern ally, saying Israel had a right to defend itself.
However, since the International Court of Justice deemed Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories as unlawful in July 2024, the attitudes of some countries in the union have slowly shifted into condemnation.
As reported by The Conversation, Israel firing on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon in October 2024 prompted a wider international reaction from leaders like Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the EU’s Foreign Affairs Chief Joseph Borrell.
The Israeli military incursion in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has led to over 60,000 Palestinian deaths, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The UN also reported record starvation and malnutrition, issuing an urgent appeal for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the zone; a total number of malnutrition-related deaths has risen to 227, including 103 children since October 2023.
More recently, a targeted Israeli attack on a media tent sheltering journalists outside the main gate in Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital killed seven people on August 10, including four Al Jazeera journalists: Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, and Mohammed Noufal.
However, a poll from the Israel Democracy Institute found that over half of Jewish Israeli respondents were “not at all troubled” by reports of the human rights crisis faced by Palestinians, as per Al Jazeera.
And while the EU had laid out a plan to impose unprecedented penalties on Israel- which included a ban on Israeli startups from accessing EU research funds-, the proposal remains stalled because of disagreements among the union’s members.
Featured image:
Image: Ambassador Haim Regev
Source: Haim Regev via X
