EU’s complicity shattered its credibility, warn critics
‘All EU states are legally bound to employ all means reasonably available to them to prevent a genocide, but they haven’t,’ says Claudio Francavilla, associate director for EU advocacy at Human Rights Watch
‘In a world where justice is done, we would see leaders of EU face trial in The Hague for their complicity in genocide,’ Niamh Ni Bhriain tells Anadolu
BRUSSELS
Days after Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola landed in Tel Aviv with a message of support – two of the first Western officials to do so.
Two years later, the mood in Brussels is starkly different. The same bloc that once rallied behind Israel is now considering sanctions on a country accused of committing genocide – a sharp turn driven by public outrage, internal pressure, and a deepening sense of moral crisis.
Israeli attacks over the past two years have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to figures from Palestinian authorities.
A UN independent international commission of inquiry concluded last month that Israel is committing genocide in the enclave, where its siege and blockade on all essentials has also triggered a famine that has killed more than 460 Palestinians, including over 150 children.
Across Europe, protests have filled the streets, accusing the EU of complicity in Israel’s devastating war.
Under that pressure, the bloc’s tone began to shift. By September 2024, von der Leyen herself accused Israel of “undermining the two-state solution.”
This year, the commission reviewed its association agreement with Israel and found clear human rights violations. Soon after, Brussels proposed its strongest measures yet – suspending trade benefits, sanctioning extremist figures and freezing millions in EU funds.
Yet even as Brussels moved toward accountability, its response remained tangled in hesitation and political fracture.
The plan still awaits member state approval, where deep divisions endure between countries like Spain and Ireland, pushing for action, and others wary of alienating traditional allies in the American and Israeli governments.
And as the US under President Donald Trump unveiled a sweeping 20-point peace proposal for Gaza, Europe once again finds itself deferring to American diplomacy – a gesture that could delay or even defang its own sanctions push.
Failing to pressure the US
Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, told Anadolu that the EU has been late to recognize that Israel’s response to the Hamas attack “went far beyond military targets and became a war on Gaza’s civilian population.”
“In recent months, as the genocide has become undeniable, and as (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s aim of mass ethnic cleansing has become more explicit, most European nations have stopped arms sales to Israel and some have formally recognized a Palestinian state,” he said.
But Germany’s reluctance still makes it unclear if the EU will take collective action.
He added that the bloc has also failed to stand up to Trump, who could “end the genocide tomorrow by halting massive American arms sales and military aid to Israel.”
Roth argued that EU inaction weakens its credibility, especially in rallying support for Ukraine, and called for stronger pressure on Washington.
“The real question is whether the EU is maximizing pressure on Trump to rein in Netanyahu,” he said.
‘Israel is losing allies in Europe’
Claudio Francavilla, associate director for EU advocacy at Human Rights Watch, categorized the EU response as “far too little and far too late.”
“There is one convention that Europe should be particularly attached to – the UN Genocide Convention of 1948. As parties to the treaty, all EU states are legally bound to employ all means reasonably available to them to prevent a genocide. But they haven’t,” he told Anadolu.
However, he acknowledged the significance of the EU’s latest moves toward sanctioning Israel.
“It’s meaningful that they come from the president of the European Commission, who is a German conservative who has long been a staunch ally of Israel, and it’s meaningful that they are supported by a growing number of EU governments. So, what this means is that Israel is losing allies in Europe,” Francavilla said.
He urged the EU to adopt practical measures, including arms embargoes, suspension of bilateral deals, support for the International Criminal Court, and restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements.
‘EU leaders would face trial in The Hague’
Niamh Ni Bhriain, coordinator of the War and Pacification Program at the Transnational Institute, told Anadolu that the EU and its member states have “utterly failed” to fulfill their legal obligations to prevent genocide.
“In a world where justice is done, we would see the leaders of the EU face trial in The Hague for their complicity in genocide. Anything less than this will serve to normalize genocide,” she said.
Ni Bhriain criticized the EU for not imposing effective sanctions on Israel, noting that proposals from the European Commission were “more window dressing than teeth.”
“Even if the sanctions were imposed now, this would not be enough to absolve EU leaders of their criminality,” she said.
“Yes, they are long overdue, but they are absolutely inadequate to address the catastrophic situation in Gaza. What we really need is accountability for the EU’s complicity in genocide.”
She also criticized Europe’s alignment with the US, saying the EU has made itself politically irrelevant. “Instead of carving out its own political direction, it comes in every time behind the US empire.”
Ni Bhriain argued the EU’s credibility is “in tatters” and can only be restored if leaders face accountability at international courts.
“We simply cannot accept that Europe’s most powerful political representatives can get away with supporting war and genocide as a matter of policy.”
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