European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera has compared the suffering of civilians in Gaza to that of Jews imprisoned by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust and criticized the E.U. for “idly standing by while one of the worst humanitarian scandals in history unfolds.”
Considered the “No. 2” in the E.U. executive body, she made the statements in an interview with Spanish radio Cadena Ser.
Ribera, who is a Spanish Socialist and former deputy prime minister in the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, also lamented that “it is very difficult to mobilize Europe on Gaza” and issued a rare rebuke of her colleagues in the European Commission.
Spain, which is one of the most anti-Israel countries in the E.U., has called for a suspension of the E.U.-Israel Association Agreement and an arms embargo on Israel.
Europe is divided on the issue of measures to be taken against Israel in response to the Gaza humanitarian crisis. The division was clearly apparent on Tuesday when the ambassadors of the 27 E.U. member states failed to agree by a majority to adopt a European Commission proposal to partially suspend Israel’s participation in Horizon Europe, the E.U.’s flagship research and innovation program. Germany and Italy, among others, blocked the move.
“For months, practically every week,” Ribera said, she’s urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to adopt a stronger position against Israel. Von der Leyen is a member of German Chancellor Fredrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union party.
Ribera, whose full title is first executive vice president for clean, just and competitive transition, said divisions in the European Commission mirrored those among European leaders.
In the interview, she expresses regret that there is still no consensus within the commission. “Faced with situations like this, Europe must react and consolidate itself as a political actor. It must mobilize those principles that inspired the construction of the European project,” she said, adding that “not even unanimous political condemnation by all member states has yet been achieved.”
What is happening in the Gaza Strip is “intolerable,” said Ribera. “We are witnessing one of the worst scandals from a humanitarian point of view.’’
Europe “must act in the face of what is happening in Gaza through trade, sanctions, diplomatic and judicial measures,” she said.
Originally published by European Jewish Press.
