A full ban on EU imports of goods made in Israeli settlements extracted "most support” from EU foreign ministers during a meeting on Monday, the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said, after the European Commission last week presented a range of options to restrict settlement trade, the boldest of which was a full trading ban.
“The option that got the most support was banning the trade with the illegal settlements,” Kallas told reporters in Brussels on Monday evening. Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered illegal under international law and by the EU.
EU ambassadors will now be tasked with putting meat on the bone of the Commission’s initial proposal, a two-page “options paper” shared with EU capitals last week and first reported by Euronews.
Kallas also said that an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers could be convened to ensure further progress. The next formal ministerial gathering is scheduled for October, weeks before Israel is due to hold legislative elections, with several diplomats expressing fear that the sensitive timing could further scupper any progress.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, whose backing is considered pivotal if any proposal is to reach the necessary support threshold, suggested that no measures should be taken in advance of the ballot ealier on Monday.
