EU foreign ministers are meeting to discuss the bloc’s relations with Israel, and they will also debate whether to suspend a key trade deal.
Three member states – Spain, Slovenia and Ireland – requested that the suspension of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel be reconsidered.
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The move is a reflection of growing unease across the continent over Israel’s conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank in recent years, as well as growing demands from rights groups for action on Israel’s growing list of human rights abuses.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alberes told this to reporters in Luxembourg on Tuesday. “I hope that every European country will follow the words of the International Court of Justice and the United Nations on the protection of human rights and international law,” he said. “Anything different would be a defeat for the EU.”
However, the faction is divided over its relations with Israel. Countries like Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic, in particular, have been reluctant to take any drastic steps, meaning any move towards a complete suspension of the agreement is unlikely in the near future.
German Foreign Minister Johann Waddefull described Spain’s request as “unreasonable”, saying any issues should be discussed in a “critical, constructive dialogue with Israel”.
So, what is the EU-Israel agreement and why is it so controversial?
What is the EU-Israel Association Agreement?
The agreement, which came into force in 2000, grants Israel preferential access to EU markets and supports cooperation in key areas such as trade, research and diplomacy.
The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner, making the agreement a key part of their relationship.
A central feature of the deal is its human rights clause, known as Article 2, which states that cooperation “is based on respect for human rights and democratic principles”.
This clause is at the center of the current debate, as critics argue that violations by Israel may justify suspending the agreement in whole or in part.
Who is demanding suspension?
Calls to suspend the agreement have been made by many governments, rights groups and EU citizens, particularly those who have long condemned Israel’s decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Gaza.
Within the EU, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia are pushing for a review and suspension of the agreement, arguing that the bloc must act in line with its legal and human rights commitments.
“We need to take action. We need to make sure our fundamental values are protected,” Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said in Luxembourg.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said Brussels is seeking at least a partial suspension, but a full suspension is probably out of reach given the situation in various European countries.
In a statement addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday, more than 60 human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on the EU and member states to “adopt long-overdue measures, including suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements, and suspending all transfers and transit of weapons to Israel.”
Public pressure has also increased considerably. On 15 April, the Justice for Palestine European Citizens Initiative (ECI) successfully collected one million signatures in support of its campaign demanding Brussels to block the Association Agreement, three months after its launch.
The campaign accuses Israel of committing genocide, maintaining an illegal occupation, and implementing an apartheid system against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
As a result of the number of signatures collected, according to EU law, the European Commission is required to “react and decide what, if any, action it will take in response to the initiative, justifying its decision”.
Why are they demanding suspension?
Mainly due to anger over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel’s war has killed more than 71,000 people, and in the occupied West Bank, where illegal settlements and attacks by Israeli forces on Palestinian villages and communities have increased.
Gaza
Israel’s two-year massacre in Gaza has become a catalyst for growing demands to end the Association Agreement.
More than 71,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, have been killed since Israel’s war on the coastal territory began on October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Thousands of people are missing, buried under the debris and presumed dead.
Despite a US-led “cease-fire” agreement reached between Israel and Hamas last October, Israeli forces have continued attacks and raids on Gaza on an almost daily basis, killing more than 700 Palestinians since then, and continue to severely restrict essential aid from entering the war-ravaged coastal region.
A UN investigation last September found genocidal intent in Israel’s war on Gaza, marking a watershed moment after nearly two years of war.
In December 2023, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, accusing it of conduct tantamount to genocide in Gaza. That case is ongoing.
And, in November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The ICC said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Gallant and Netanyahu “knowingly and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of goods indispensable to their survival, including food, water, medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity”.
The court also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif for “crimes against humanity” in connection with an October 8, 2023, Hamas-led attack on army posts and villages in southern Israel, when more than 1,000 Israelis were killed, and more than 200 were captured and taken to detention in Gaza. Deif’s death in an Israeli air strike on Gaza was confirmed in January 2025.
occupation of west bank
Concerns also extend to the occupied West Bank, where increasing settler violence against Palestinians has drawn widespread condemnation from European governments. The violence, which Palestinians and activists say is condoned and often supported by Israeli armed forces, has prompted discussion within the EU about possible sanctions targeting “extremist settlers”.
The continued construction of illegal Israeli settlements has further intensified criticism, as it is seen by many European countries as undermining the prospects for a two-state solution.
A familiar pattern is that checkpoints are set up on the edges of Palestinian villages, followed by sustained and often violent harassment of the communities living there, including cutting off water supplies, killing or stealing livestock, and destroying solar panels. Once members of a community are driven out, an illegal Israeli settlement is built on that site. These illegal settlements receive retroactive approval from Israeli authorities at some later point in time.
In December last year, 14 countries, including the UK, Canada, Denmark and France, condemned Israel’s approval of 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying the move was illegal and jeopardized the Gaza ceasefire and “long-term peace and security in the entire region”.
The same month, the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory had reached its highest level since at least 2017.
International law dictates that occupying powers such as Israel must not move their civilian populations into the occupied Palestinian territory such as the West Bank, where approximately 700,000 residents now live.
