While a date in October has yet to be set for the 12th EU-Israel Association Council, Europeans are fine-tuning the position they will take during the meeting, which last took place in 2012.
On this occasion, the EU is expected to express that it is “concerned about the increasingly high number of civilian casualties, as a result of actions inter alia by Israeli security forces” in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a draft EU statement dated Monday, 19 September—a copy of which EUROPE obtained. The EU27 will reiterate “its call for a thorough investigation that clarifies all the circumstances that led to Shireen Abu Akleh’s death and [for] those responsible [to be] brought to justice” (see EUROPE 12950/35).
According to the draft statement, the EU is going to reaffirm its long-standing position on the Middle East Peace Process, namely “its commitment to achieving a two-state solution”—a Palestinian state and an Israeli state. To do so, it will advocate restoring “a political horizon” by developing confidence-building measures, improving the population’s living conditions, and paving the way towards relaunching the peace process.
On one hand, the European Union will reiterate “its strong opposition” to Israel’s settlement policy, including in and around East Jerusalem. It will note that this policy “[has] reached record highs in the past years”, despite its illegality under international law. [The EU] will also state, “Such actions as evictions, forced transfers, including in Masafer Yatta, demolitions, including [the demolition] of EU-funded projects, and confiscations of homes will only escalate an already tense environment and threaten the viability of a two-state solution”.
On the other hand, the EU will just as “strongly” condemn “the indiscriminate launching of rockets [...] into Israel” by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups, recalling Israel’s “legitimate security concerns”.
With reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU will express that it is pleased with the assistance Israel has given Kyiv and its citizens, “including the supply of defensive military equipment and humanitarian aid”. Israel’s commitment to avoiding the circumvention of sanctions targeting Russia will also be noted.
Finally, the EU will welcome the prospect of strengthening its partnership with Israel in the field of energy based on the REPowerEU strategy designed to reduce European dependence on Russian hydrocarbons. In its view, this partnership “will focus on energy security, by promoting energy supply diversification, as well as on the climate neutral energy transition”, by favouring renewable energies and increasing interconnections.
In June, Egypt, Israel, and the European Commission signed a memorandum of understanding on exporting fossil gas from countries located in the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe (see EUROPE 12972/13).
See the draft EU statement: https://aeur.eu/f/39z (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)