European Union foreign ministers on Monday rejected a proposal by the E.U.’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, to suspend political dialogue with Israel, Reuters reported.
“We know that there are tragic events in Gaza, huge civilian casualties, but we do not forget who started the current cycle of violence,” said Radoslaw Sikorski, foreign minister of Poland, which has regularly voted against anti-Israel proposals in the E.U.
A decision to suspend political dialogue with Israel would have required unanimity among the 27 E.U. member states.
Borrell wrote to the ministers prior to Monday’s meeting in Brussels, citing “serious concerns about possible breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza.”
At a press conference after the meeting, Borrell admitted defeat.
“Most of the member states considered that it was much better to continue having [a] diplomatic and political relationship with Israel,” he said.
Borrell, who has served since Dec. 1, 2019 as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, is set to retire at the end of this month.
The European politician, who is from Spain, has been a harsh critic of Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza and policies toward the Palestinian Arabs in general, at times making incendiary remarks that have drawn rebukes from Israeli officials.
In September, then-Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said Borrell would not be welcome to make an official visit to Jerusalem that the latter had planned. Israel proposed an alternative date, after Borrell’s retirement. He canceled his trip.
In March, Borrell accused Jerusalem of “provoking famine” in the Gaza Strip, claiming that the Israel Defense Forces was using starvation as a “weapon of war.”
“Gaza was before the war the greatest open-air prison. Today, it is the greatest open-air graveyard,” Borrell claimed in separate comments. “A graveyard for tens of thousands of people, and also a graveyard for many of the most important principles of humanitarian law.”
This drew a rebuke from Katz, who called on him to stop bashing Israel and recognize its right to defend itself.
