The pendulum swings: The slow death of Europe’s pro-Israel consensus

The European Union is the “chief of all cowards,” Amnesty International declared in a searing statement issued on April 21. The condemnation was a direct response to the European bloc’s systemic failure to sever ties with Israel during the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg. Despite months of legal warnings, the EU once again prioritized procedural safety over the urgency of human life. The efforts to press the EU to finally take a moral position were led by a coalition of Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia, later joined by Belgium. They argued that the EU-Israel Association Agreement—the legal framework governing their trade relationship—is predicated on the “respect for human rights.”  To maintain this agreement while the extreme violations in occupied Palestine […]