Sanctions, deemed effective by the EU when applied so swiftly to Russia and Iran, do not have the same effect when it comes to Israel, according to EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas. Asked about the EU’s double standards when it comes to Israel so swiftly applied by the EU to Russia and Iran, Kallas retorted, “A suspension of the association agreement, will it stop the expansion [by Israeli settlers] on the West Bank? You know this is probably also not true.”

On its own, no. Sanctions will not stop the Israel from its colonial expansion. But suspending Israel from the EU-Israel Association Agreement is not supposed to stop settlement expansion. What it should do is stop the agreement on grounds that Israel is not respecting human rights and democratic principles, as Article 2 states. In reality, this reasoning is also flawed; the EU knew that Israel had no respect for human rights and democratic principles since its establishment on ethnically cleansed Palestinian territory.  Departing........

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