Italy is against the EU suspending its cooperation agreement with Israel over the the war in Lebanon and the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said after Spain and Ireland put the issue on the agenda of a meeting of European foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
"No decision will be made today on the EU-Israel agreement, in part because neither the numerical nor political conditions have been met," Tajani said on the sidelines of the meeting.
"I believe it would be better to sanction those responsible individually — I'm thinking of violent settlers (in the West Bank) — or to increase sanctions.
"But I don't think blocking a trade agreement is a useful tool, because it would then affect the Israeli population in general.
"So we remain deeply perplexed about this, but no initiative will be taken today.
