On Tuesday 11 February, several MEPs deplored the European Union’s lack of influence in the Middle East, at a time when the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, the formation of a government in Lebanon and the fall of the al-Assad regime could represent an opportunity to try to stabilise the region.
“Our influence in the region is at an all-time low”, said David McAllister (EPP, German), deploring a “patchwork” of bilateral strategies and divisions between Member States. For Rihards Kols (ECR, Latvian), if the EU wants to have a place at the negotiating table, it must “act, not observe”, so as not to leave a vacuum for the autocrats to fill. However, Member States are not sufficiently responsive and remain divided, he observed.
Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, nonetheless felt that the EU, as the largest donor in the region, was “well placed to play a leading role”.
Reiterating the EU’s position in favour of a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the creation of two viable states, she considered that a reformed Palestinian Authority was the “only viable partner” for administering Palestine. She did not explicitly mention the recent statements by the American President who advocated the displacement of Gazans from the Gaza Strip, which would be placed under American control (see EUROPE 13574/33).
Donald Trump’s statements were rejected by several MEPs. For Hilde Vautmans (Renew Europe, Belgian), “it is no longer a question of fighting Hamas, but of ethnic cleansing”. She added: “Trump even talks about buying Gaza, as if it were a simple business deal. What are we doing?” Hannah Neumann (Greens/EFA, German) opposed the forced displacement of Palestinians. “Gaza is not for sale”, said Lynn Boylan (The Left, Irish), criticising the Commission’s “deafening silence”. She also called on the EU to take action against repeated attacks by violent Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
On the far right of the political spectrum, the emphasis was more on Israel’s right to defend itself and the need for the EU to sanction certain organisations. Jorge Martín Frías (PfE, Spanish) criticised the Commission’s continued support for UNRWA, some of whose employees - he said - teach “hatred of Israel”. He called for the UN entity to be included on the European list of terrorist organisations. Rihards Kols advocated the same in relation to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)