Israel was enacting \u201chorrible laws, like the one concerning the [Palestinian-only] death penalty\u201d and guilty of \u201cindiscriminate bombing\u201d in Lebanon, said Albares going into the EU foreign ministers\u2019 meeting.<\/p>\n
Speaking of Israeli air strikes which killed some 360 people, Pr\u00e9vot said in Luxembourg on Tuesday: \u201cI was personally in Beirut on 8 April the day the [Israeli] bombs fell, a few hundred metres from the Belgian embassy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael\u2019s disproportionate and indiscriminate reaction is totally condemnable,\u201d Pr\u00e9vot said.<\/p>\n
Italy-Israel rift<\/p>\n
Tajani also shielded Israel despite a rift in relations between Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Meloni having imposed bilateral defence sanctions on Israel, after he became toxic to centre-right Italian voters.<\/p>\n
But Tajani did complain at length of Israeli soldiers\u2019 desecration of Christian artefacts and attacks on Christian villages in Lebanon, saying in Luxembourg: \u201cThis is an offence for the entire Christian world \u2026 I hope that in the end the person responsible [for shooting a crucifix] will be punished\u201d.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s foreign minister Johann Wadephul said the Israel free-trade freeze was \u201cinappropriate\u201d, but added: \u201cI expect the Israeli government as a whole to counter this settler violence more clearly, more firmly and with all means available\u201d.<\/p>\n
Czech foreign minister Petr Macinka said: \u201cWe have a relatively important, significant, but also a very dark part of history in common [with Israel]\u201d, referencing Holocaust-era crimes. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor this reason, it would be quite difficult for us [the Czech Republic] to proceed with the freezing of the [EU-Israel] association agreement. And I think a number of European countries feel the same,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas also said: \u201csuspension of the [EU-Israel] association agreement [on free trade], will it stop the expansion on the West Bank [settlements]? You know, this is probably also not true\u201d.<\/p>\n
By contrast, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Slovenia, as well as Spain and Belgium had supported the Israel free-trade freeze.<\/p>\n
But even though Spain\u2019s push did not reach QMV proportions, Albares said: \u201cIt\u2019s very clear that there has been a shift \u2026 a very clear [EU] dissatisfaction and annoyance at the actions that Israel have taken\u201d.<\/p>\n Dutch foreign minister Tom Berendsen also said: \u201cI can\u2019t say yet which countries are moving [on trade sanctions] \u2026 but the concerns are big. I notice that in all countries. The concerns are big about Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n Budapest switch<\/p>\n And in Budapest, the incoming prime minister P\u00e9ter Magyar has made clear <\/a>he would arrest Netanyahu if he came to Hungary, in line with a war-crimes warrant from the International Criminal Court in The Hague, signalling an end to unconditional Hungarian support for the Israeli leader. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776806354_184_6a7a3264-d6db-4d84-9c23-9272cb2155d7-7485593e-ac8c-412a-b212-a15cb8df9eb8-489a4556-0003-4102-b353-c7.png\")
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