EU remains divided over trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements

Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee says the bloc ‘should be moving collectively’ in upholding international law.

Al JazeeraAl Jazeera Staff2026-09-03 06:35查看原文 ↗

Britain's Foreign Minister Ed Miliband (front L) walks past European Commission High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas (C-front) and Ireland's Defence and Foreign Minister Helen McEntee (3rd R-front) after posing for a group photo with other visiting EU foreign affairs ministers during their informal meeting. [AFP]

Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee says the bloc ‘should be moving collectively’ in upholding international law.

EU deadlock over Israeli settlement sanctions as West Bank violence intensifies

European Union foreign ministers remain divided after talks on imposing trade sanctions against Israel amid increasing settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

Ireland, the current holder of the EU council presidency, hosted an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Wicklow on Tuesday and Wednesday.

list 1 of 4 Will the EU take action against Israel?

list 2 of 4 Two Palestinians killed as settlers, Israeli forces raid West Bank village

list 3 of 4 EU eyes more Russia sanctions after failed drone attack in Germany

list 4 of 4 EU or Eurasia: Why Putin sparred with Armenia’s PM

Reporting from Wicklow, Al Jazeera’s Peter Smith said Ireland and Spain, with the support of Belgium and the Netherlands, led the call for EU-wide restrictions against goods imported from illegal Israeli settlements at the meeting.

He said that Germany, Austria, Czechia and Hungary are clear that they would oppose any attempts to sanction illegal settlements, saying such a move would upset diplomatic channels with Israel.

Ireland was the first EU country to ban imported Israeli settlement goods. The country recognised a Palestinian state in 2024 amid Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza and continues to criticise Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Ireland has also pushed for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a cooperation deal signed in 2000 that forms the basis for trade ties with Israel.

The EU bloc is Israel’s largest trading partner as bilateral trade of goods reached nearly $50bn last year. The volume of trade has increased since 2023. EU exports to Israel increased from nearly $30bn to about $32bn in 2025.

“We should be moving collectively … It is not credible for us to say we should uphold international law in one form and not do it in the other,” Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee told reporters after the meeting.

Ireland’s Defence and Foreign Minister Helen McEntee takes part in a joint news conference following an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers [File: AFP]

“We’re hearing that at the meetings of the foreign ministers in Wicklow this week, only Ireland raised the issue of the illegal settlements,” Irish Member of the European Parliament Lynn Boylan told Al Jazeera.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas did not address the prospect of trading sanctions in a news conference after the informal meeting.

She previously commented on proposals to curb trade with illegal Israeli settlements at a previous Gymnich meeting in July and said at the time that the ministers debated three options, which included an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs or a ban, Reuters reported.

Kallas said at the time that a plan for a ban received the strongest backing at the gathering that took place in Brussels, but there was no clear majority for any single option.

There is also debate on whether the imposition of trade restrictions requires unanimity from the ministers. EU trade decisions can be passed by a simple majority vote, but major political or policy decisions require a unanimous vote.

Several protesters demonstrated near the golf resort where the meeting was held and were seen holding signs that read “You need to boycott Israel now” and “Sanction Israel”.

An Israeli military bulldozer uproots olive trees on a Palestinian farm area in the village of Arrabeh, near the West Bank city of Jenin [Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo]

爱尔兰外交部长海伦·麦肯蒂表示，欧盟“应该在维护国际法方面采取集体行动”。

随着西岸暴力冲突加剧，欧盟在以色列定居点制裁问题上陷入僵局

在被占领的西岸地区定居者暴力事件不断升级之际，欧盟外交部长们就对以色列实施贸易制裁进行了会谈，但会谈后他们仍存在分歧。

担任欧盟理事会轮值主席国的爱尔兰于周二和周三在威克洛郡主持召开了欧盟外交部长非正式会议。

问题 1/4：欧盟是否会对以色列采取行动？

列表 2/4：两名巴勒斯坦人在定居者遭以色列军队突袭西岸村庄时丧生

欧盟在德国无人机袭击失败后考虑对俄罗斯实施更多制裁（共四项制裁措施，第三项）

欧盟或欧亚大陆：普京为何与亚美尼亚总理发生争执

半岛电视台记者彼得·史密斯从威克洛报道说，爱尔兰和西班牙在比利时和荷兰的支持下，在会议上带头呼吁欧盟对从以色列非法定居点进口的商品实施限制。

他表示，德国、奥地利、捷克和匈牙利明确表示，他们将反对任何制裁非法定居点的企图，并称此举将扰乱与以色列的外交渠道。

爱尔兰是欧盟第一个禁止进口以色列定居点商品的国家。该国在以色列对加沙地带巴勒斯坦人发动种族灭绝战争期间，于2024年承认巴勒斯坦国，并持续批评以色列在被占领的西岸地区扩建非法定居点。

爱尔兰也一直推动对欧盟-以色列联系国协定进行审查，该协定是2000年签署的一项合作协议，构成了与以色列贸易关系的基础。