The momentum for EU sanctions on Israel is growing, but will the US try to bully Europe out of taking action?
France imposed a visa-ban on extremist Israeli security minister Itmar Ben-Gvir on Friday (22 May) as stories continued to come out in French, Italian, and Spanish newspapers of EU activists on an aid flotilla to Gaza being beaten, sexually assaulted, and electrocuted, making Ben-Gvir de facto persona non grata in the Schengen free-travel zone.
The Netherlands banned trade with Israeli settlers the same day, while Italy has called for EU foreign ministers to put Israel sanctions on the agenda of the next EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg on 15 June.
France, Germany, Italy, and the UK, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also warned in a statement on Friday that Israeli firms who took part in construction of the ‘E1’ settlement in the West Bank “should be aware of legal and reputational consequences” of doing so.
The E1 settlement is to cut the West Bank in two, ending hope of a Palestinian state, and the road, water, and electricity infrastructure is already being built, liberal Irish MEP Barry Andrews, who toured the area in early May, told EUobserver.
