The European Commission is set to adopt Wednesday measures against Israel proposed by Ursula von der Leyen in the wake of the Gaza war, including trade sanctions.

‘’It is profoundly disturbing that you, by advancing such a proposal, are in practice empowering a terrorist organization responsible for and continuing to perpetrate heinous crimes, while Israel, a longstanding partner of the EU, fights an existential war. It also jeopardizes the ongoing efforts to end the war,’’ the minister wrote.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar sharply criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for “empowering” Hamas with her proposal to put political pressure on Israel in the framework of the Gaza war by suspending trade-related provisions in the E.U.-Israel Association Agreement. The proposal also foresees  sanctioning ‘’extremist’’ government ministers’’ and ‘’violent settlers.’’

The letter was sent on Tuesday on the eve of a meeting of the 27 members of the College of Commissioners during which the proposal is set to be adopted.

‘’It is profoundly disturbing that you, by advancing such a proposal, are in practice empowering a terrorist organization responsible for and continuing to perpetrate heinous crimes, while Israel, a longstanding partner of the EU, fights an existential war. It also jeopardizes the ongoing efforts to end the war,’’ the minister wrote.

“This unprecedented proposal, that has never been implemented against any other country, constitutes a clear attempt to harm Israel while we are still fighting a war imposed on us by the October 7 terror attack – the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,’’ he added.

‘’As you know well, the war continues because Hamas refuses to release the hostages and insists on maintaining its military power in Gaza. Had Hamas agreed to disarm and release the hostages, the war would have ended long ago,’’ Sa’ar wrote in his letter.

Sa’ar called the EU proposal “replete with false accusations and legal flaws,” including bypassing due process and other EU rules, relying on a biased review singling out Israel and dismissing Israel’s input and humanitarian efforts, relying on unverified Hamas-controlled sources, and disregarding Israel’s right to defend its security during wartime.’’

He also referenced remarks from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while on a visit on Monday in Israel, that “initiatives of this nature embolden Hamas, harden its stance, and undermine progress toward potential agreements.”

Sa’ar concluded by recalling that “eighty years have passed since the Holocaust on European soil occurred, taking the life of 6 million of our people.’’’’ We have established a homeland for our people in our ancestral land, fighting relentlessly for our lives and security. Europe harming Israel while there is an attempt to annihilate the surviving remnant of the Jewish people and its only state marks the trampling of every moral standard and disregards Europe’s historical responsibility,’’ said the Israeli minister.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her State of the Union address in the European Parliament in Strasbourg last week to outline the actions she wanted to take against Israel over its conduct of the war. “What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable,”  she declared, accusing the Israeli army of orchestrating a “man-made famine” in the Gaza Strip.

The “main gist” of the proposals would be to sanction ‘’violent settlers and extremist ministers’’, and to suspend the trade-related part of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, Commission Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday.

The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner,

On trade specifically, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in an interview with Euronews the Commission proposal would seek to reimpose duties on some Israeli goods. The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner, accounting for 32% of Jerusalem’s trade in goods with the rest of the world.

”Trade between the EU and Israel was €42.6 billion in 2024, and the preferential treatment is around 37% of that,”  Kallas said, adding:  ”It is a significant amount, and when it comes to the preferential treatment, then 37% of that trade really has the preferential treatment.”

“So definitely this step will have a high cost for Israel,” she added.

EU member states divided on sanctions against Israel 

However, the Commission proposal will have to be adopted by the 27 EU member states at a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers on October 20.

Suspending trade agreements requires a qualified majority (15 member states representing 65% of the EU population). ‘’On an issue as sensitive as Israel and Gaza, it is difficult to achieve this,’’ according to an EU source. EU member states are divided on imposing sanctions against Israel for the Gaza war.

A  previous proposal also from the EU Commission  to partially suspend Israel’s participation in the Horizon Europe research and innovation program failed to reach this required qualified majority as Germany and Italy, two of the largest EU countries, opposed the measure.

Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia are in favor of the EU Commission’s proposals.

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria, on the other hand, seem to remain hostile to the prospect of adopting these trade sanctions.

Those opposing sanctions say that the EU must favor continued dialogue with Israel.

Diplomatic sources said Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s position on the issue will be decisive. Von der Leyen is a member of Merz’s CDU (Christian Democrat) party but she was criticized within her own party. CDU MEP Dennis Radkte wrote on X last week: “One could only be ashamed of the one-sidedness at this point. Not a word about the intolerable anti-Semitism in the middle of Europe.”

Von der Leyen’s party colleague Hildegard Bentele, who chairs the European Parliameny delegation for relations with Israel said she was “shocked by the one-sidedness of the Commission President’s proposal” and added: “The Association Agreement is being sacrificed – without a plan for future dialogue with Israel. This is devastating for EU-Israel relations,’’ the German MEP added.