On May 20, the European Union announced that it would review its wide-ranging trade and cooperation agreement with Israel in response to the offensive in Gaza and its unwillingness to fully lift a two-month aid blockade.

The EU executive will now launch a review to establish whether Israel has violated its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a broad-ranging pact that defines the trading and diplomatic relations between both sides.

The measure, planned in early May by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, was backed by 17 out of 27 EU-member states; specifically, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

Among those who opposed the measure were Italy and Germany, which expressed their concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but did not vote in favor. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, and Lithuania also moved against it, while Latvia remained neutral.

As reported by the Austrian TV channel Ö1, Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said his government supported the review, but opposed “suspending this agreement entirely,” stressing the importance of dialogue.

The UK has also been pressing Israel and recently suspended the free…