Israel’s political establishment has been working in recent days to thwart an initiative by European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell to promote a series of anti-Israel resolutions, including sanctions against ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
The initiative was opposed by most of the countries in the EU, but Borrell chose to move forward with it despite this.
In the last two days, Foreign Minister Israel Katz spoke with many of his European counterparts on the issue. He noted during the talks that "precisely now, when Israel is facing the threat of an attack from Iran and while there is a broad international coalition standing in Israel's defense, negative decisions by the European Union against Israel will send the wrong message to Iran."
He emphasized that this is also a very sensitive point in time vis-a-vis the contacts on a hostage release deal.
Israel's ambassadors in the various European countries also worked to thwart the initiative.
During the discussion that took place on the initiative, during a summit of EU foreign ministers on Thursday, much criticism was leveled at Borrell's conduct. Some countries announced that they would oppose his initiative and even veto it.
Borrell was furious at the ministers' responses, but due to the lack of agreement, the issue was dropped.
Borrell's proposal followed public statements he made two weeks ago in response to remarks by Ben Gvir and Smotrich regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“While the World pushes for a ceasefire in Gaza, Min. Ben Gvir calls for cutting fuel and aid to civilians. Like Min. Smotrich’s sinister statements, this is an incitement to war crimes. Sanctions must be on our EU agenda,” wrote Borrell two weeks ago in a post on social media site X.
“I urge the Israeli government to unequivocally distance itself from these incitements to commit war crimes, and call it to engage in good faith in the negotiations facilitated by the US, Qatar and Egypt for an immediate ceasefire,” he added.
Responding to Borrell’s comments, Smotrich said at the time that “his words are a clear and dangerous indication that he sides with terror and let there be no mistake, he could not care less about the Palestinian people.”
"This war requires the choice between good and evil, and clearly Borrell has chosen the wrong side of history," Smotrich concluded.