European Union foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of violent attacks on Palestinians on Monday, breaking months of political deadlock over such a move.
The move comes after months of delay caused by Hungary, and sends a clear signal. The defeat of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s former prime minister, could be the beginning of a new era in which Europe will be harder on Israel.
Hungary had been blocking the measures for months under Mr. Orban’s government. But after Peter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister this weekend, the dynamics for European Union decision-making have changed. Mr. Magyar’s government has suggested he will not block sanctions packages that are otherwise broadly supported.
“E.U. foreign ministers just gave the go-ahead to sanction Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said in a social media post on Monday afternoon in Brussels, without offering further details on who would be subject to those measures. “It was high time we move from deadlock to delivery. Extremism and violence carry consequences.”
Ms. Kallas said there would also be new sanctions on “leading Hamas figures,” also without offering further details. Individual sanctions typically carry repercussions for travel and banking.
Four Israeli organizations and three individuals are expected to be sanctioned over settler violence, according to two European officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss figures that are not yet public. Another 10 individuals from Hamas, the Islamist militant group, are expected to face sanctions, the two officials said.
“Israel firmly rejects the decision to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and organizations,” Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, posted on social media after the news was announced. “The attempt to impose political views through sanctions is unacceptable and will not succeed.”
The approval of the sanctions came at a meeting of foreign affairs ministers from around the 27-nation European Union, held on Monday in Brussels. Technical details in imposing the sanctions will now be worked out.
“These sanctions mean that individuals, for whom a file has been compiled showing they have committed such violence, will be banned from entering Europe, and their assets there may also be frozen,” Tom Berendsen, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, told reporters after the meeting.
After years of violence, extremist Israeli settlers have intensified their attacks on Palestinians across the Israeli-occupied West Bank in recent weeks. Their intimidation is emptying out villages and leaving Palestinians living in fear of sexual assault, theft and even deadly shootings.
But as the European Union takes a tougher stance toward these settlers, broader Israel-related measures that have been up for discussion remain stalled. In particular, some European nations have been pushing for the bloc to suspend its favorable trade arrangement with Israel.
“It is absolutely essential, given the continued dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, but the continued increase in settler violence in the West Bank, that we make decisions here and that the E.U. acts,” Helen McEntee, Ireland’s minister of foreign affairs and trade, said before Monday’s meeting.
Such a sweeping move lacks consensus, though.
“It is true that many member states want more and there are also many member states who don’t want more,” Ms. Kallas said during a news conference after the meeting. “So this is where we where we are.”
However limited, Monday’s move to sanction Israeli settlers puts the European Union in contrast to the United States, which remains more resolutely aligned with Israel. But polls suggest public opinion in America is also souring over the situation in Gaza and the war with Iran.
