A European Commission proposal to suspend Israel’s access to parts of the E.U.'s research and innovation fund failed to garner the necessary support when European ambassadors met in Brussels on Tuesday.
According to Euronews, E.U. member states did not reach a qualified majority after the representatives Germany and Italy said that their governments needed to examine the Commission’s plan further.
The outlet cited anonymous diplomatic sources present at Tuesday’s meeting as saying that Germany was now “holding the cards” and that Berlin would let the European Union know if it changed its position on Israel in the coming weeks.
Hungary, Bulgaria and Czechia were opposed to taking action against the Jewish state, the report said, while The Netherlands, Ireland, France, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Portugal, Malta and Spain backed the measures.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry slammed European commissioners following their recommendation on Monday night to suspend the Jewish state from a component of Horizon Europe—Brussels’ flagship financial program for research and innovation, with a budget of €95.5 billion.
At a time when the Israel Defense Forces is fighting “jihadist terrorism” in the Gaza Strip, Brussels’ move “only serves to strengthen Hamas and therefore undermines the chances of reaching a ceasefire and a framework for the release of hostages,” Jerusalem stated.
“Israel will work to ensure that this recommendation is not adopted by the member states, and we hope that will indeed be the case,” it added. “Israel will not yield to pressure when it comes to its national interests.”
The top E.U. executive body claimed that Israel had failed to implement a July 10 deal aimed at increasing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
In response, the Commission proposed to its member states that Israeli start-ups be prevented from participating in areas involving “disruptive innovations and emerging technologies that have potential dual-use applications, such as cyber-security, drones and artificial intelligence.”
“The proposed suspension is a targeted and reversible action,” it said. “It does not affect the participation of Israeli universities and researchers in collaborative projects and research activities under Horizon Europe.”
Suspending Jerusalem from the Horizon program was one of 10 options presented to commissioners following a report that claimed the Jewish state was in breach of its human rights obligations to Brussels.
Jerusalem agreed on July 10 to “significant steps” to improve the humanitarian situation amid the war in the Strip.
Measures included increasing the number of supply trucks entering each day, opening additional crossings to the north and south of the Strip, reopening Jordanian and Egyptian aid routes, resuming fuel deliveries to aid facilities and repairing infrastructure, said Kaja Kallas, the E.U.'s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Monday that he would continue to cooperate with international NGOs, the United States and Europe, to ensure that “large amounts” of aid reaches the enclave.
As part of that effort, the IDF has paused operations in populated areas of the Strip from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, and designated secure routes from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. to facilitate the safe passage of aid convoys.
“We already allow significant amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza every single day, including food, water and medicine,” said Netanyahu.
“Unfortunately, Hamas, which openly uses civilians as human shields, operates from hospitals and uses schools and kindergartens to store weapons, has been stealing aid from the Gaza population, many times by shooting Palestinians,” he added.
