“This is not the time to reward terrorists by making concessions or calling for a ceasefire but a time to come together to rescue the remaining hostages and dismantle the Hamas killing machine with the same determination that the international community fought and defeated ISIS, the Islamic State”, said Tomas Sandell of the European Coalition for Israel.
A pro-Israel advocacy group has called for a new global coalition to come together in order to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization after six Israeli hostages were killed in cold blood just hours before they were found by the Israeli Defence Forces last week.
In its monthly talk show The European Report from the European Parliament in Brussels last Tuesday, Tomas Sandell, Founding Director of the European Coalition for Israel (ECI) expressed his grave concern over the many concessions which have been made to Hamas after the October 7 terrorist attack as two EU member states, Ireland and Spain, are currently campaigning for the recognition of a Palestinian state and the British government has adopted a partial ban of its arms export to Israel.
“This is not the time to reward terrorists by making concessions or calling for a ceasefire but a time to come together to rescue the remaining hostages and dismantle the Hamas killing machine with the same determination that the international community fought and defeated ISIS, the Islamic State”, Sandell said.
In the program newly re-elected Dutch MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen, a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, expressed the same sentiments in saying that “enough is enough”.
Ruissen, who was elected to the parliament with a record number of votes credited his election victory to his consistent support for Israel at a time when many other candidates were afraid to publicly express their solidarity with Israel.
He explained how he on the campaign trail met with many young Jews who expressed their fear of returning to their college campuses this fall due to the violent demonstrations against Israel.
The monthly talk show was recorded as the new European Parliament was being installed in Brussels where the composition of important committees and delegations was being finalized.
Tomas Sandell noted that the new parliament seems to be more inclined to understand the challenges which the Jewish state is facing as many of the parties who scored well in the Israel vote ranking made significant gains in the elections in June.
Furthermore, the current EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, who made several anti-Israel statements, will soon be replaced by former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja kallas.
“Growing up in the shadows of Putin’s Russia gives Kallas a better understanding of how we ought to defend the free world from this new axis of evil which includes both Russia and Iran,” Sandell said.
If things go according to plan the new European Commission will be confirmed by the European Parliament by early November. Still, the confirmation process may drag on. On Wednesday it was revealed that Belgium’s nominee for European Commissioner, current Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, during her career as a top journalist in Belgium TV had a reputation of being anti-Israel. In one instance she refused to mention the Israeli citizenship of a recipient of a prestigious award, contrary to the ethical code of conduct for journalists. Last year she faced calls for resignation as Foreign Minister after it had been revealed that she had granted visas to delegations from both Iran and Russia for a major convention in Brussels.
According to ECI, with the ongoing war in Ukraine and the rise of antisemitism across Europe, Lahbib’s candidacy could become a liability for the new European Commission which will face a new geo-political landscape after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the terrorist attack in southern Israel on October 7 last year.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the European Report which is recorded in the studio of the European Parliament in Brussels and broadcast on several TV stations across Europe.
