EU member states must be persuaded to back European Commission proposals to partially suspend the bloc\u2019s trade agreement with Israel and impose sanctions on violent settlers and extremist ministers, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.<\/p>\n
Senator Stephenson said:<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter almost two years of genocide in Gaza, it is incredible that the EU is only now waking up to the blatant human rights abuses by Netanyahu\u2019s government, which are in clear breach of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile a hardening of the EU\u2019s position is a positive development, we ultimately need to see a suspension of the full agreement to put real pressure on Israel to end its murderous campaign in Gaza, which has left almost 65,000 dead and countless others facing enforced starvation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is welcome that two hardline members of the Israel\u2019s right-wing government \u2013 National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich \u2013 are to be sanctioned as part of the EU Commission\u2019s proposals. However, the reality is that the brutal apartheid regime goes well beyond these two individuals. The EU should also be targeting organisations that fund and support the illegal settlement campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn announcing the proposals, top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas said the aim of the sanctions is not to punish Israel, but to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The use of such weak language in the face of a genocide is deeply unhelpful \u2013 Israel must be unequivocally condemned for its war crimes and held fully accountable for its actions by the international community.<\/p>\n
\u201cA qualified majority of EU member states will be required to get these initial sanctions over the line. Ireland must use its influence to convince other countries to support the proposal so the measures can be urgently implemented, and then push for full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our part, the government must now ensure that the Occupied Territories Bill \u2013 to include a ban on goods and services \u2013 is enacted without further delay. This must be a priority as the D\u00e1il returns from summer recess.\u201d<\/p>\n
September 17, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EU member states must be persuaded to back European Commission proposals to partially suspend the bloc\u2019s trade agreement with Israel and impose sanctions on violent settlers and extremist ministers, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson. Senator Stephenson said: \u201cAfter almost two years of genocide in Gaza, it is incredible that the EU […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[736,529,718,641,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eu","category-gaza","category-israel","category-patricia-stephenson","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n