Sweden urges EU to sanction far-right Israeli ministers

Sweden is urging the European Union to impose sanctions on far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet, following similar moves by the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

These countries have already sanctioned two ministers — National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich — accusing them of promoting extremist violence and violating Palestinian human rights, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

So far, the EU has not matched these sanctions. But Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told POLITICO that the EU must take a stronger stance to increase pressure on the Israeli government.

After talks in Brussels with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, she said: “We have also been pushing for the sanctioning of extremist settlers, but we now take the next step to also push for sanctioning individual extremist ministers, because we need to see things happening on the ground.”

For sanctions against Israeli ministers to be approved, all 27 EU countries must agree. This is difficult due to opposition from some member states, including Hungary, a strong supporter of Israel.

However, the political mood in Europe is shifting. Countries like France and Germany recently supported a Dutch-led call to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement, citing the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Malmer Stenergard said: “It [the mood toward Israel] sounds a lot different now than it did only a couple of weeks ago, and this is due to the fact that so many countries like Sweden are frustrated to see the suffering of the millions.”

While unanimous agreement on sanctions may not happen soon, she added, “We’ve seen [a] shift in many capitals, including in Stockholm. And I want to emphasise that we are true friends of the Israeli people, but it is still our obligation to put pressure now on the Israeli government.”

In a letter to Kallas, Malmer Stenergard called on the European Council to “urgently decide on targeted sanctions against Israeli ministers who promote illegal settlement activities and actively work against a negotiated two-state solution, and additional sanctions against extremist settlers.”

Meanwhile, the EU is also concerned about US sanctions against four judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which the Trump administration claimed were politically motivated.

Malmer Stenergard said Sweden was “willing to explore” an EU blocking statute to counter the US sanctions, adding: “I know that the host nation, the Netherlands, is also looking into ways to make sure that the sanctioned judges can carry on their important work, and we support that.”

Any EU action against Israeli ministers is expected to heighten tensions with the US. Reuters reported that the US recently sent a diplomatic note discouraging countries from attending a UN conference on the two-state solution, warning of diplomatic consequences for those opposing US foreign policy.

By Aghakazim Guliyev