Insight
Fixing the EU’s broken Israel-Palestine policy by Thomas Maddock, 17 December 2025 The EU’s efforts to forge a common approach that promotes peace and human rights in the IsraelPalestine conflict have failed. As the EU rethinks its broader Middle East policy, a new approach cannot wait. The European Commission will unveil its new EU Middle East Strategy in the second quarter of 2026. The EU should be able to act as a player, not merely a payer, in the region. It is Israel’s largest trading partner and the largest donor to the Palestinian Authority (PA), in theory giving the Union some leverage over both. EU member-states have historical ties to the region, and there are 15 EU delegations and two EU special representatives working there. Given the urgent need for reconstruction funds in Gaza and Syria, EU resources would be welcome in the Middle East. In practice, however, deep internal divisions and shredded credibility hamper the EU’s engagement. As Israel’s war in Gaza escalated and allegations of Israeli Defence Forces’ (IDF) war crimes proliferated, the EU failed to respond, beyond some criticisms. Current EU policy fails to advance the Union’s interests or its foundational values of peacebuilding and human rights. The new Middle East Strategy should seek to do both. Background on the EU’s engagement The EU consensus over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was established in the Venice Declaration of 1980, adopted by the European Community’s then-nine member-states. Even if the issue remained politically contentious, member-states backed the following principles: the right of Palestinians to selfdetermination; Israel’s right to security and existence; and an end to Israel’s post-1967 occupation of Palestinian territory and the establishment of illegal settlements. This represented a baseline European consensus for decades. These principles influence both the EU’s public diplomacy and its trade arrangements with Israel. The EUIsrael Association Agreement facilitated the flow of Israeli goods to the EU (and vice versa). This opened CER INSIGHT: FIXING THE EU’S BROKEN ISRAEL-PALESTINE POLICY 17 December 2025
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