“What I noticed is that the initiative that the Netherlands took regarding review of Article 2, the article about human rights, that this initiative from the Netherlands has gained some traction and that a number of member states will support it,” Veldkamp told reporters after a meeting with other foreign ministers in Brussels.
Kallas said last week that such an initiative is unlikely to succeed given uneven political support inside the EU to apply more pressure to Israel. “I know what the end result of these discussions will be because I know the positions of the member states,” she told an audience at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. “Even if we would, you know, suspend this agreement, it wouldn’t stop the killing and that is the problem, really.”
But criticism of Israel has grown louder since the letter was sent, with the leaders of France, the U.K. and Canada all decrying what they called “intolerable” suffering in Gaza, while Britain has halted negotiations on a free trade agreement with Israel.
Any decision to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement would need to be taken by the European Commission — so EU capitals don’t have a direct say.
However, if a majority of EU countries say they are in favor, it could compel the Commission to move forward with a review or an investigation as to whether the agreement is appropriate. One of the two EU diplomats said the decision to review the deal had been taken following a show of hands during a Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.
The fact that the Netherlands, traditionally supportive of Israel, has backed such moves is significant. In recent days, French President Emmanuel Macron has also said he would back a review of the EU-Israel deal.
But other big players, like Germany, are not in favor of reviewing it, which means the fate of the Dutch push is uncertain. Speaking to POLITICO on Tuesday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys noted that Israel had taken steps to ease the humanitarian situation in Gaza, suggesting his country wouldn’t support a change in EU-Israel relations.
Gabriel Gavin contributed reporting.