What is Europe’s position regarding Israel?

Europe is deeply divided over the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict due to the difference in personal positions of EU leaders hat reflect the diversity of national interests. The excess of members and the specificities of individual countries prevent a unity of purpose.

After the attack carried out by Hamas, on 7^th October, the President of the EU Commission declared her strong closeness to Israel provoking protests from Ireland, where the memory of its own national issue with Britain is still alive. Dublin supports Palestinian territorial claims and criticized von der Leyen for her positions that should have remained personal and not presented as those of of the entire EU. On the other hand, the President of the Council of Europe, Charles Michel of Belgium and Joseph Borrell of Spain, who is responsible for European foreign policy, have accused Israel of using excessive force and violation of international law for its siege of Gaza. Other countries, such as Austria, Holland, Czech Republic and Italy, hold “pro-Israeli” positions. Germany, as Angela Merkel argued, for historical reasons considers Israel’s security a “raison d’état”.

For many years Brussels has been sending hundreds of millions of euros of “aid to the Palestinian people” pretending not to know that those funds for the most part feed Hamas who uses the huge sums for purchases of weapons and missiles with the aim of attacking Israel. The Gatestone Institute has documented that much European aid to Palestinian schools and kindergartens ends up funding training children to kill Israelis.

Militarily, Israel falls within the American zone of influence. Washington has been its guarantor for decades and has facilitated numerous meetings between Israeli and Palestinian leaders by granting extensive financial assistance but the numerous agreements reached have all been short-lived due to the strong opposition, hidden or overt, of personalities with political or military weight among Jews and Palestinians, whether they reside in the region or in foreign countries. Succeeding generations have lived with more than seventy-five years of open or veiled hostility.

One wonders when there will be a future generation that knows a life without siren alarms, attacks and killing. Truly, a people whose thousand-year destiny is never to know true peace.