Jerusalem waits for Hungary, one of Israel’s best friends within the EU, to take over the EU chairmanship from Belgium in July.

The issue will be discussed Monday at the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

Earlier this month, the 27 EU member states agreed to invite Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to attend an ‘’ad-hoc’’ meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council to discuss the situation in Gaza and the country’s ’’compliance with human rights obligations’’ under Israel’s Association Agreement with the EU.

“Following an agreement at the Foreign Affairs Council, I have sent out the invitation to FM Katz,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell wrote on X.

Borell also insisted that the EU wants to know ‘’how it plans to implement the ruling of the International Court of  Justice (ICJ)’’  which ordered Israel to halt its intended military offensive in the city of Rafah.

The Israeli government reportedly responded this week to the EU’s invitation by saying that Israel “is willing to consider” it but not as an ‘’ad-hoc summit’’ meeting. Jerusalem also wants ‘’to negotiate the agenda.’’,” a senior EU official confirms. But the distance between the parties on the agenda persists.

Instead of an ‘’ad-hoc’’ meeting, Israel wants to convene a regular meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council when Hungary will take over from Belgium the EU presidency of the EU Council of Ministers in the second half of this year. Hungary is one of Israel’s best friends in the EU having several times blocked anti-Israel votes in the Foreign Affairs Council.

EU Foreign Affairs Ministers, who are to meet on Monday in Luxembourg, will discuss Israel’s response.

The EU-Israel Association Council is the highes-level political body of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. It is composed of the Israeli Foreign Minister and his EU counterparts and discusses all topics of bilateral EU-Israel relations. The Council convened in October 2022 in Brussels after a hiatus of ten years due to disagreements on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

‘’We don’t want to only discuss human rights topics,’’ Israel reportedly said in itys response to Josep Borrell.

An Association Council takes place when both parties agree on a date and agenda. In turn, the 27 member countries must unanimously agree on the date, agenda, and common position. “In its response, Israel did not give any indication on the date,” a senior EU official told Eunews.

At a recent meeting in Budapest, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó that Israel is waiting for Hungary’s EU presidency, that will start on July 1st, which is “an unprecedented opportunity to improve Israel’s position in the EU.”

Szijjártó said the upcoming Hungarian European Union presidency would strive to “restore cooperation between the EU and Israel to the level of mutual respect, urging the sides to conduct a dialogue and “suppress the tone of reprimanding and lecturing”. He added the Hungarian presidency would make preparations for association talks between the EU and Israel “in that spirit”.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister expressed deep concern over increasing anti-Israeli tendencies in international organisations. “Israel is entitled to fair and equal treatment in international organisations,” the foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as saying, adding that the Hungarian government had always thwarted “unilateral, biased attacks and statements against Israel, and will continue to do so in future.”