The Foreign Affairs Council was not just another exercise in diplomatic balancing, but a reflection of a deeply divided Europe, which can only find unanimity on the 'minimum perimeter' of moral condemnation, leaving the structural knots of the conflict intact.
The green light for sanctions against the settlers was made possible only by the political earthquake in Hungary. For almost two years, Viktor Orbán's government had blocked any measures against the illegal settlements. With the swearing-in of the new Prime Minister Péter Magyar, the Hungarian delegation lifted the veto, allowing High Representative Kaja Kallas to announce the transition from stalemate to action. However, Magyar has already made it clear that Budapest will remain pragmatic and will not support more drastic measures, marking a partial continuity with the past.
The real political failure concerns the proposal from Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. This treaty is at the heart of Tel Aviv's trade privileges in Europe: suspending it would mean economically isolating Israel.
The idea was to impose high tariffs on goods produced in the West Bank to 'differentiate' them from Israeli products. To require that products coming from the occupied territories have export certificates issued by the Palestinian Authority. Although these measures only require a qualified majority (and not unanimity), the lack of support from major European trading partners has postponed any decision indefinitely.
To politically balance the sanctions against the settlers, the Council simultaneously approved new measures against the leaders of Hamas. This "equivalence" was rejected by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who accused the EU of creating a "distorted moral equivalence" between Israeli citizens and terrorists. The result is that Europe finds itself criticized by Israel for doing too little, and by international organizations (Amnesty foremost) for not doing anything concrete.
As public pressure grows over the tragedy in Gaza and the expansion of the E1 colonial project in the West Bank, the European Union chooses the path of individual and symbolic sanctions. Diplomacy thus leaves intact the structural knots that fuel the conflict in the Middle East.
Organizations likeAmnesty Internationalaccuse Brussels of hypocrisy: sanctions against individual settlers are "band-aids on an open wound," while the structural support for the state that allows the expansion of settlers remains intact.
The "bad apple" (the violent settler) is punished to save the whole tree (the commercial and political relationship with the State of Israel). The Council of May 11 thus confirms the EU's chronic inability to act as an autonomous geopolitical actor, preferring the comfort of a unanimous press release to the burden of a courageous choice.