The legislation voted by the Knesset, which the U.S. and E.U. oppose, follows revelations about the U.N. agency’s complicity in Palestinian terrorism.
When EU Council President Charles Michel writes in his invitation letter about the consequences the Israeli decision to ban UNWRA could have on the EU’s relationship with Israel, he was referring to a call by Spain and Ireland to review the EU-Israel Association ‘’over Israel’s breach of human rights in the Gaza war.’’
At an informal dinner in Budapst on Thursday night, European Union leaders are discussing the legislation recently adopted by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, banning UNWRA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinian refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and making it illegal for the agency to operate in Israeli territory, and for state officials to cooperate with it.
On Friday, they will continue the discussion on other topics, including the transatlantic relations following the victory of DonalD Trump in the US presidential election.
‘’With our steadfast support to the United Nations in our minds, we will also have an exchange on the recently adopted Israeli legislation against UNRWA which, if implemented, would make it impossible for UNRWA to carry out its mandate. We will discuss what the consequences on our relationship with Israel could be,’’ reads the invitation letter by European Council President Charles Michel to the 27 EU leaders.
The meeting takes place in Budapest because Hungary is currently chairing the EU Council of Ministers.
The Israeli legislation, which the U.S. and E.U. oppose, follows revelations about the U.N. agency’s complicity in Palestinian terrorism.
Two laws were passed by a large majority following the exposure of UNRWA staff complicity in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, and despite pressure from the United States and other countries against the move.
In the wake of the Oct. 7 massacres in Israel, in which Hamas terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and abducted another 251, evidence surfaced about the complicity of UNRWA staff in those atrocities and other acts of terrorism.
For example, UNRWA worker Faisal Ali Mussalem al-Naami and a colleague were captured on video loading the body of Israeli Yonatan Samerano into a vehicle in Sderot.
According to Israel, over 450 terrorists belonging to terrorist organizations in Gaza, mainly Hamas, are also employed by UNRWA. UNRWA’s Lazzarini has flatly denied these allegations.
Josep Borrell, the E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, tweeted that the new laws “would de facto render UNRWA’s vital operations in Gaza impossible, and seriously hamper its provision of services in the West Bank.” The laws stand “in stark contradiction to international law and the fundamental principle of humanity,” he added.
When Charles Michel writes in his letter about the consequences the Israeli decision to ban UNWRA could have on the EU’s relationship with Israel, he was referring to a call by Spain and Ireland to review the EU-Israel Association ‘’over Israel’s breach of human rights in the Gaza war.’’
“The European Commission must respond once and for all to the formal request made by two European countries to suspend the Association Agreement with Israel if it is found, as everything suggests, that human rights are being violated,” said last month Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
EU Foreign Ministers are also discuss to discuss the issue at their next meeting on November 18 in Brussels.
In May, the 27 member states unanimously agreed to convene an EU-Israel Association Council but Israel brushed aside the invitation, rejecting the human rights focus for the proposed agenda by the EU for the meeting.
Borrell, who has a record of critical statements against Israel and who is to leave his post at the end of the month, said on the sidelines of the meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers last month in Luxembourg : . “I have proposed that we take responsibility for assessing the situation in the next Foreign Affairs Council because we have sufficient evidence to discuss respect for humanitarian law.’’