The EU's foreign policy machinery on Israel-Palestine is frozen by a structural veto exercised by two member states, even as public opinion across the continent turns sharply against the Netanyahu government. A meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers on Monday will showcase the impasse: 27 countries, three blocs of opinion, and no mechanism to override the German-Italian blockade that prevents a qualified majority for trade sanctions or a ban on commerce with illegal settlements. The numbers are stark. Pew Research polling across 10 European countries found large majorities holding negative views of Israel, with shifts accelerating after the US-Israeli war on Iran. In Poland, negative views jumped eight points to 70%. In Italy — one of the blocking states — they rose nine points to 75%. In Germany, the other blocker, nine points to 73%. Meanwhile, 88% of Italians and 83% of Germans say they lack confidence in Netanyahu to do the right thing regarding world affairs. The governments blocking EU action are operating against the expressed sentiment of their own populations. More than 500 former senior EU officials and diplomats, including former prime ministers of France, Italy, and Sweden, plus former EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell, issued a statement this week singling out Germany and Italy by name: they are "de facto complicit in undermining both EU values and the two-state solution." Former EU ambassador Michael Doyle said the bloc is failing the obligations of its own treaties and international law. The 2024 ICJ advisory ruling on settlement illegality told states to prevent trade or investment that maintains the illegal situation — the EU has not complied. The European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen has declined to table proposals banning trade with settlements, arguing member state disagreement makes action impossible. Critics call this a procedural shield for political inaction. Martin Konečný, director of the European Middle East Project, argues the dynamic changes the moment a proposal is formally tabled — the blocking states would be forced to vote against it publicly rather than benefiting from the Commission's preemptive surrender. Von der Leyen presented proposals to suspend preferential trade with Israel a year ago but never found sufficient support. The humanitarian reality in Gaza continues to deteriorate. More than 74,000 people, including at least 21,200 children, have been killed since October 2023. Gaza faces acute shortages of water, food, and medical supplies. The death toll includes 1,400 Palestinians killed since a ceasefire was declared a year ago. Israel's E1 settlement plan threatens to physically bisect the West Bank, critically damaging the two-state solution the EU claims to support. The policy vacuum is not consequence-free. Five countries boycotted Eurovision over Israel's participation. The UK, France, and Canada have moved independently to ban settlement goods and sanction facilitators. The Green Party of England and Wales adopted a motion equating Zionism with racism — promptly condemned by the European Greens and peace organisations like Yachad as counterproductive, handing ammunition to those who seek to delegitimize pro-Palestinian activism. The EU's failure to provide a credible institutional channel for policy action pushes the discourse toward less disciplined actors. The Monday meeting will also address Iran, Yemen, upcoming Israeli elections on 27 October, and the first Palestinian legislative elections in 20 years expected by late November. Spain and Ireland were the first to call for a review of whether Israel's conduct breaches the human rights requirements of the EU-Israel association agreement covering €68bn in trade. But without Commission initiative or a shift from Berlin and Rome, the EU's self-imposed irrelevance continues — a choice that costs credibility with every polling cycle.
