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Borrell condemns lack of unity in EU to defend law against Israel

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, this Saturday condemned the “lack of unity” in the EU to maintain a coherent defense of justice and international law against Israel. “EU members are deeply divided with regard to the rulings of the International Criminal Court (ICC),” Borrell said last Thursday, in reference to the arrest warrants issued against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defense minister. Yoav Gallant.

“This is a legal decision, not a political one, and there is nothing anti-Semitic about it,” Borrell insisted during a speech in Nicosia before Palestinian and Israeli representatives working for a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict. “When the ICC, created with the strong support of many EU members, called for the arrest of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, many applauded, and the same voices are silent today,” the head of European diplomacy highlighted.

“We must defend international law against those who undermine it,” he stressed. He also reminded that several US senators have promised to impose sanctions against any country that cooperates with the ICC.

He has also called for “consistency” when confronting “peace-breakers” to avoid accusations of double standards that could undermine Brussels’ role. In this sense, he reminded that the EU has long imposed sanctions on Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but only this year it began to sanction extremist Israeli settlers “who carry out violent attacks against Palestinians.” Or that the EU vetoed imports from Crimea after the Russian occupation, but never did the same with the occupied West Bank or enforced rules on correctly labeling products produced by settlers.

He has also rebuked Israel for imposing “the longest press blockade in history” preventing the work of journalists in Gaza, while complaining that information about the strip is not reliable.

He has stressed that for the EU to become relevant again it must be prepared to use “coercion” to protect the application of international law. Borrell has said that when Israel “violates the rights of Palestinians, which is indisputable,” it should face consequences.

Finally, he called for fighting against anti-Semitism, “one of humanity’s worst inventions”, but stressed that criticizing Netanyahu’s government “is not anti-Semitism.” “Don’t use this word in vain,” Borrell concluded. (efe)