“We have also been pushing for the sanctioning of extremist settlers, but we now take the next step to also push for sanctioning individual extremist ministers, because we need to see things happening on the ground,” Malmer Stenergard said.
In order to pass sanctions against Israeli government ministers, the EU would need unanimous backing from its 27 member countries. That’s unlikely to happen given opposition from staunch backers of Israel such as Hungary.
But the political mood toward Israel has been shifting in recent weeks, with a majority of countries — including France and Germany — throwing their weight behind a Dutch-led call last month to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement over the humanitarian situation caused by Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“It [the mood toward Israel] sounds a lot different now than it did only a couple of weeks ago and this is due to the fact that so many countries like Sweden are frustrated to see the suffering of the millions,” Malmer Stenergard added.
While acknowledging that the EU is unlikely to reach unanimous agreement on sanctions in the short term, she added that “we’ve seen [a] shift in many capitals, including in Stockholm. And I want to emphasize that we are true friends of the Israeli people, but it is still our obligation to put pressure now on the Israeli government.”
Malmer Stenergard pressed this view in a letter addressed to Kallas, seen by POLITICO, in which she asked that the European Council “urgently decide on targeted sanctions against Israeli ministers who promote illegal settlement activities and actively work against a negotiated two-state solution, and additional sanctions against extremist settlers.”
