Joint Statement on the EU-Israel Association Agreement Review

The undersigned human rights and humanitarian organizations and trade unions* urge the EU to ensure that the ongoing review of Israel’s compliance with article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement be thorough, comprehensive, and credible.

Article 2 establishes that respect for human rights and democratic principles constitutes an “essential element” of the agreement. Amid overwhelming evidence of Israel’s atrocity crimes and other egregious human rights abuses against Palestinians throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), a credible review can only reach one conclusion: that Israel is in severe non-compliance with article 2.

In light of this, we call on the European Commission and all EU Member States to support meaningful and concrete measures, including the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, at least in part.

We are appalled that it took the EU so long to launch this review, despite a request by Spain and Ireland already in February 2024, international court rulings, arrest warrants issued by International Criminal Court, and numerous reports by UN bodies, independent experts, prominent NGOs and scholars exposing Israel’s very serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law throughout the OPT, including war crimes, crimes against humanity - including forced displacement, apartheid and extermination - and genocide.

Some of these findings were presented to EU foreign ministers in November 2024; but instead of moving towards the suspension of the agreement and taking other appropriate measures, the ministers only agreed to convene a meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council, in which they called for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid at scale, full respect for IHL, and a halting of Israel’s illegal settlement policy. Israeli authorities blatantly did the exact opposite of all that, once again to no consequence for EU-Israel bilateral relations – until now.

The context in which this review is being conducted is dramatic and requires urgent and effective action. For months, Israel has completely blocked aid from entering the occupied Gaza Strip, and then tried to replace the UN-led humanitarian aid system in Gaza with military-led distribution hubs, where high numbers of killings of civilians seeking aid have been recorded. This is in breach of Israel’s obligations under IHL as an occupying power, and of three binding rulings issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in January, March and May 2024, ordering Israeli authorities to allow the unhindered provision of urgently needed humanitarian aid at scale throughout Gaza to prevent a genocide.

This, along with the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza targeting life-sustaining infrastructures, healthcare facilities, shelters, and killing and maiming thousands of civilians since a fragile ceasefire was broken, has continued to cause unspeakable suffering to the illegally besieged Palestinians in Gaza.

As parties to the Genocide Convention, all EU member states have the obligation to “employ all means reasonably available to them” to prevent a genocide. That obligation arises not when a definitive judicial determination is made, but as soon as a state learns, or should normally have learned, of a serious risk that genocide may be committed. The International Court of Justice provided clear guidance in that regard. EU action is long overdue.

But while Gaza might have been the trigger for launching the review of article 2 of the Association Agreement, the scope of the review is broader, concerning Israel’s respect for “human rights and democratic principles”. We note, in that regard, the landmark July 2024 advisory opinion by the ICJ, which found Israel’s occupation of the OPT to be illegal, in breach of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and characterised by other serious violations, including systematic discrimination and racial segregation, as well as unlawful violence and displacement, demolitions, illegal settlements expansion and land seizure. In September, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution largely endorsing that ruling, and formulating a series of calls that have been ignored by Israeli authorities. Furthermore, reports from human rights groups and UN investigations also highlight torture against Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, leading to multiple deaths.

In this context, a weak or inconclusive review of Israel’s compliance with article 2, and/or failure by the Commission and Council to suspend at least part of the Association Agreement, would ultimately destroy what’s left of the EU’s credibility - and, most importantly, it would further embolden Israeli authorities to continue their atrocity crimes and other egregious violations against the Palestinians in total impunity.

The EU must act now, as it long should have.

1. 11.11.11
2. Academics for Palestine
3. Act Church of Sweden
4. Action for Women
5. ActionAid Denmark
6. ActionAid France
7. ActionAid Ireland
8. ActionAid Italy
9. ACV-CSC Belgium
10. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
11. Ambasada Rog
12. Amigas de la Tierra España
13. Amnesty International
14. ARSIS - Association for the Social Support of Youth
15. Aseistakieltäytyjäliitto
16. Ashar Gan ETS
17. Associação Intervenção Democrática - ID
18. Associação para a Cooperação Entre os Povos (ACEP)
19. Association Belgo-Palestinienne WB
20. Association des Universitaires pour le Respect du Droit International en Palestine (AURDIP)
21. Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS)
22. ATTAC Hungary
23. AVAAZ
24. Avocats Sans Frontières
25. Belgian Academics and Artists for Palestine (BA4P)
26. Bloody Sunday Trust
27. Broederlijk Delen
28. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
29. Centre de Recherche et d’Informations pour le Développement (CRID)
30. Centre for Global Education
31. CESP-Sindicato dos Trabalhadores do Comércio, Escritórios e Serviços de Portugal
32. CGT (Confédération générale du Travail)
33. Changemakers Lab
34. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
35. Christian Aid Ireland
36. CIDAC
37. CIDSE - international family of Catholic social justice organisations
38. CISS - Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud
39. CIVICUS
40. CNCD-11.11.11