“Business as usual is not working,” Palestinian diplomat Riyad Mansour said in an interview with EUobserver, referring to the EU’s long-standing approach of dialogue with Israel, despite its continued violations of international law.

As a permanent observer of the state of Palestine to the UN since 2005, Mansour has dedicated his life to defending the rights of those in Gaza and the West Bank, advocating for the respect of international law and the need to ensure a viable two-state solution. 

During an official visit to Brussels on Thursday (7 May), he warned reporters that the ceasefire remained fragile after at least nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured in a series of Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

He also said that Israel was “doubling down” and “not playing ball,” which required the EU to act.

“They want us to leave Gaza. They want us to leave the West Bank. They want us to leave East Jerusalem, and they’re saying from the river to the sea, only Jews are entitled to self-determination. They legislated that in the Knesset,” the Palestinian diplomat told EUobserver.

“For those who have eyes and want to see, they are not hiding anything. All of that is illegal and a violation of international law, which Europe cherishes and played a key role in forming — [and] it is now under threat,” he added.

On the two-state solution, there is no disagreement among Europeans, he said. “Yet, Israel is doubling down, [saying]: ‘I want to prove you wrong; I want to defeat your logic’,” Mansour said.

“What should we do? Just watch them with a smile and allow them to succeed? Or do we show them tough love and say … if you don’t change nicely, you are going to change through the measures, accountability, and steps that we are going to take, using all the leverage that we have in order to make you change,” he said.

His message formed part of a broader diplomatic tour that brought Mansour to Brussels from Paris, before continuing on to Madrid. In Brussels, he held a series of meetings with diplomats and EU officials, including a breakfast hosted by the Irish ambassador to the EU and talks with the European Commission’s external service.

Several countries in Europe, including Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Slovenia, have supported freezing a free-trade agreement with Israel.

The move would be significant, as Europe was Israel’s largest trading partner in 2024, with trade totalling €42.6 bn, but it has been opposed by traditional Israeli allies such as Germany and Italy, which means it has no qualified majority to pass a vote in the EU Council.

Several EU member states, MEPs, and activists have also called for a ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but EU member states remain divided on this issue as well.

Yet, with the new government in Hungary, EU officials expect to be able to agree new sanctions on Israeli violent settlers soon, as this measure was only blocked by the former government of Viktor Orbán.

Delaying the inevitable?

Mansour recognised that Europe is still divided when it comes to taking action on Israel, but he said that the group of countries advocating for continued dialogue and “business as usual” was becoming smaller and smaller.

“They’re [Israel’s EU allies] delaying the decisive decision. But at the end of the day, if they are faithful to the two-state solution, there is no other way except to show the tough love and to take practical measures in order to force Israel to change course,” he said.

“Remember what a wise European once said: trying to do the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is an exercise in futility,” he also said, referring to a well-known phrase attributed to Jewish physicist Albert Einstein.

And when asked about how the lack of a European response has damaged the credibility of the EU in the Middle East, Mansour appealed to the power of the people. 

“European people are not being complacent or quiet. They are changing the public opinion in Europe, so leaders need to listen to their people, not to me,” he said, while praising those in power who are stepping up.

“They are the ones who carry the banner forward,” Manosur said.

Signs after a pro-Palestine protest (Source: Wikimedia)

‘Obstacles are the Israelis’

Born in 1947 to a refugee family in Ramallah, Mansour grew up in Ohio in the US.

He played a key role in the 2012 upgrade of Palestine to “non-member observer state” status at the UN, which allowed Palestine to join international treaties and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The same court issued arrest warrants on war-crimes charges in Gaza in 2024 against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then defence minister Yoav Gallant.

For decades, the UN has passed resolutions such as those calling for a two-state solution or the cessation of settler expansion in the West Bank. 

“[But] in the implementation, there are obstacles. The obstacles are the Israelis,” Mansour told EUobserver.

“Israelis, this time they’re going all in. Nothing for the Palestinians. And who can swallow that in Europe? Just to say that I condemn it. I don’t like it. We passed that stage,” he said.

He compared the situation to road checkpoints: If asking nicely did not move the obstacle, it was time to “bring the bulldozer”— meaning sanctions.

Mansour said Israel was acting with “viciousness” to destroy the Palestinian Authority, which he describes as the “embryo of the state of Palestine.”

But when asked whether he remained hopeful about a better future for Palestinians, Mansour said he was positive by nature.

“Although my situation should make me an eternal pessimist, I’m not. There’s a practical reason why I stay positive: it gives me the strength to fight harder for this noble cause. If I become depressed, I won’t be able to do what needs to be done under these conditions,” he said.

Riyad Mansour is a Palestinian diplomat and has been the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations since 2005. Minister Mansour grew up in Palestine and later moved to the US, where he pursued his higher education. He holds a PhD in Counselling Psychology from the University of Akron, Ohio.