EU Commission president urged to ‘show leadership’ and preserve bloc’s credibility amid catastrophe in Gaza
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is under growing pressure from MEPs to “show leadership” and preserve the EU’s political credibility by taking a tougher approach to Israel’s government over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Von der Leyen is expected to refer to the EU’s role on the world stage in her annual “state of the union” speech to the European parliament on Wednesday, where she will set out her agenda for the year ahead.
But the German Christian Democrat is facing growing criticism from centrists and the left that her commission seems “disconnected” from the situation on the ground and needs to take a tougher line on Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration.
The EU has found Israel in breach of human rights obligations and drawn up a list of possible sanctions, but stopped short of action, amid deep splits among its 27-member states. The commission proposed in July a partial suspension of Israel’s participation in the EU’s Horizon €94bn research programme but has failed to find the necessary majority, without the support of big member states, such as Germany and Italy.
