Potential European Sanctions Against Israel Uncovered by Bloomberg
The ongoing conflict in Gaza has led some European countries to impose restrictions on arms exports to Israel, but the European Union as a whole has yet to implement broad, binding trade sanctions or embargoes.
Julien Barnes-Dacey, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, stated that many European governments find it increasingly difficult to continue supporting Israel's war efforts, despite strong commitments to ensuring Israel's security.
The risk of Israeli retaliation is a concern, as Israel sells air defense systems and other military equipment to Europe. Any measures to restrict arms exports could harm European defense companies. However, the specific details of potential sanctions on Israeli ministers are not specified in the report.
The government of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering imposing sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers - Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich. The stance of other European countries towards these potential sanctions is not clear.
Germany, one of Israel's main arms suppliers, is considering imposing restrictions on military exports. This decision comes after Berlin expressed dissatisfaction with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to intensified military operations against Hamas in mid-May and the blocking of aid to Gaza.
The European Union, a political and economic union of 27 European countries, is Israel's largest trading partner. The trade agreement between the EU and Israel is under review by a majority of EU members. The European Commission has proposed partially suspending Israel's access to certain EU research and development funds as a punitive measure for alleged breaches of human-rights obligations, but this proposal has not yet secured the qualified majority needed to move forward.
EU sanctions on Israel are likely to face resistance from countries like Hungary. The mixed response reflects a broader EU position that strongly criticizes Israel's actions and calls for humanitarian relief in Gaza, but hesitates to employ comprehensive economic sanctions or embargoes due to political divisions within the bloc, concerns about security cooperation, and the desire to maintain diplomatic channels.
The partial suspension of Israel’s access to EU research funds could hamper Israeli start-ups and innovation sectors that often collaborate with European programs, thereby affecting parts of Israel’s economy reliant on this cooperation. National arms export restrictions by some EU countries could impact European defense companies that supply Israel, reducing their sales revenues and complicating defense trade relationships. However, the overall economic effect on Israel’s defense procurement and the European defense industry remains limited and uneven so far.
In summary, while selected European countries have imposed arms export restrictions to Israel, comprehensive EU trade sanctions and an arms embargo are not currently in force. The economic impact primarily concerns Israeli tech firms losing some EU research funding and certain European defense firms facing reduced arms sales due to national-level restrictions rather than EU-wide bans. The New York Times reported this information.
New policy-and-legislation discussions are underway in the European Union regarding potential sanctions on Israeli ministers, as the UK government considers imposing sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers. The general-news outlet The New York Times reports that the European Union's response to recent war-and-conflicts in Gaza, such as the ongoing arms export restrictions, may lead to further new policy-and-legislation measures in the near future.
