Israel’s wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon have strained its relations with Europe, its traditional ally.
European countries have criticized Israel for its devastating yearlong war in the Palestinian enclave and its destructive aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon.
There have been growing calls for an arms embargo on Israel, sanctions on far-right members of the Israeli government, and requests to review the European Union’s trade deal with Israel.
Pier Camillo Falasca, senior fellow at the Euro-Gulf Information Centre think tank in Rome, described it as the “worst state of relations” between Israel and Europe.
Growing Tensions
In May, Spain, Ireland, and Norway officially recognized a Palestinian state, drawing a sharp rebuke from Israel. They joined eight other countries in the 27-member bloc that already recognize Palestine.
The largely symbolic move was aimed at focusing attention on negotiating an end to the conflict between Israel and the U.S.- and EU-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Earlier this month, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni revealed that the country had imposed an arms embargo on Israel since its invasion of Gaza in October 2023. Italy is the third-largest arms supplier to Israel.
Israel invaded Gaza weeks after Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack that killed around 1,200 Israelis.
French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month called for a halt on arms deliveries to Israel. Paris has imposed restrictions on the export of some arms and ammunition to Israel.
For the first time, the EU in July sanctioned several Israeli settlers for “serious and systematic human rights abuses” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and for blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Meanwhile, some European leaders have called for the EU to review its Association Agreement with Israel, arguing that Israel is violating the trade deal’s human rights clause in Gaza.
Britain, which is not an EU member, said it is considering sanctioning some far-right Israeli ministers.
Soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon
'Absolutely Irrational'
Falasca said the staggering death toll from Israel’s war in Gaza -- where over 42,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to Palestinian officials -- has changed European public opinion.
Many in the continent, he said, see Israel’s war as “disproportionate and absolutely irrational.”
Many Europeans, he said, think that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could have adopted a “more humanitarian, more rational strategy to fight Hamas without destroying the entire territory of Gaza,” most of which is in ruins.
Falasca said the tipping point for many European countries was Israel firing on and injuring members of the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. France, Italy, Ireland, and Spain contribute troops to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
On October 19, 16 EU defense ministers called for exerting “maximum political and diplomatic pressure on Israel” to prevent further attacks.
Israel's weeks-long ground invasion and aerial bombardment targeting Hezbollah, an armed group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, has killed over 2,500 people, mostly civilians, and displaced over 1.2 million.
Nimrod Goren, senior fellow for Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington, said widespread street protests in Europe and calls for boycotting Israel in academic and cultural spheres have created the impression that “something is shifting.”
But “on the governmental level, the impact is less than you see in the unofficial spaces,” he said.
Cohen said that EU members are deeply divided over the issue of revoking or limiting its free-trade deal with Israel. And he said powerful European nations such as Germany still strongly support Israel.
Falasca said the conflicts and rising tensions in the Middle East have directly impacted Europe, including by disrupting international shipping and increasing oil prices.
“The EU and European governments are realizing that they must be more proactive in the Middle East compared to our past,” Falasca said.