Weiss is known as the \u201cgodmother<\/a>\u201d of the settler movement and has featured in a documentary by British film-maker Louis Theroux, as well as appearing on the popular Piers Morgan podcast.<\/p>\n The asset-freezes cause special annoyance, as even Israeli banks sometimes block targets\u2019 accounts in order to comply with international partners.<\/p>\n Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar called the EU decision a \u201ccompletely distorted moral equivalence\u201d, as the seven Israeli names would join a list of human-rights abusers that also included fighters from the Palestinian group Hamas.<\/p>\n Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is close to the sanctioned Regavim group, said Israel should annex \u201cstrategic\u201d parts of the West Bank.<\/p>\n \u201cIn response to the [EU sanctions] move, I call on the prime minister to convene the cabinet this evening and approve it [the annexation plan],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But for their part, the EU foreign ministers also discussed a Franco-Swedish proposal to either stop free-trade perks for Israeli settler imports or to ban them altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was also a call by many member states to take this forward,\u201d said Kallas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is true that many member states want more. And there are also many member states who don\u2019t want more. So this is where we are,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Those who want more include Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain, as well as France and Sweden.<\/p>\n Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy, and Lithuania said on Monday they preferred to wait for a detailed European Commission proposal on the anti-settler trade measures, while Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Germany spoke out against the move, an EUobserver source said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to examine it, we have to study it,\u201d said Italian foreign minister <\/a>Antonio Tajani.<\/p>\n But Irish foreign minister Helen McEntee said: \u201cWe need to act now \u2026 It is absolutely essential that we align ourselves with international law, as it\u2019s been made very clear that this kind of trade is illegal\u201d.<\/p>\n Hesitation<\/p>\n A settler-trade ban would require a qualified majority vote (QMV) in the EU Council, which means Italy would have to get on board.<\/p>\n Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain also want to end free-trade perks for all Israeli imports to the EU, which would also need a QMV.<\/p>\n The Dutch foreign minister, Tom Berendsen, said the EU should only hold votes once a majority was ready, which was still \u201cnot the case\u201d.<\/p>\n But the Spanish foreign minister said: \u201cLet\u2019s go to a vote \u2026 Let\u2019s find out how many we are, those who agree and those who do not\u201d.<\/p>\n For her part, the Austrian foreign minister, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, said the EU needed to keep open diplomatic channels, which tougher sanctions would put under threat.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a long phone call with Gideon Sa\u2019ar on Friday. And I think, especially when you are of a different opinion in many questions, it is important to stay in the conversation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n But if Sa\u2019ar or Smotrich were outraged by parallels between settlers and Hamas, then the EU commissioner for crisis management, Hadja Lahbib, risked making them even angrier by her remarks on Monday.<\/p>\n Lahbib said she had returned from Lebanon on Sunday, where villages in the south of the country \u201clook like Gaza\u201d after Israeli airstrikes.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s \u2018war of terror\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThis war is a war of terror. It\u2019s a war with blatant violation of international law. Every day, humanitarian workers, journalists are killed while doing their job,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cEntire villages are destroyed. And the buffer zone also keeps expanding into Lebanese territory,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n In Gaza, where Israel has killed over 72,000 people since 2023, Israeli \u201cairstrikes, shelling, and gunfire continue. And the yellow line [of Israeli ground occupation] is expanding<\/a> and prevents also access for humanitarian aid\u201d, Habib also said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0a9f9f77-3666-496f-8d1f-266ee1b84ce5-600x400.jpg\")
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Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem (Source: