It is “high time” the European Union agrees to institute a travel ban and other sanctions on extremist Israeli politicians Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares has said.
Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister in Binyamin Netanyahu’s government, has frequently attracted controversy for statements attacking and dehumanising Palestinians and pro-Gaza campaigners.
Several EU states, including Spain, the Republic and the Netherlands, have introduced national restrictions to prohibit Ben-Gvir and Smotrich from entering their territory, in effect designating the extremist politicians as persona non grata.
Proposed EU-level sanctions on the two Israeli ministers have been blocked on different occasions by former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and the current hard-right Czech government.
Sanctions to blacklist individuals, which would include a travel ban, need the support of all 27 EU governments to be approved.
Speaking on Wednesday, Albares said it was “high time” the EU placed sanctions on Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.
“When you say you are a minister of a democracy, you behave like such. You don’t say things that are outrageous and against international law. And if you want to have a normal relationship with the EU, you have to behave like the minister of a democratic government,” said the Spanish politician.
EU governments had to come around to the idea of banning goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, Albares said.
Spain’s left-wing government had imposed a national ban cutting off trade with the occupied territories, he said. “If we really believe in the two-state solution, it’s not only about saying, it’s doing things,” he said.
The bloc’s foreign ministers discussed stalled efforts to make Europe’s influence felt and restrain Israel from expanding settlements in the West Bank.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said it was important the EU responded to Israel’s E1 settlement plan, which would cleave East Jerusalem from the West Bank and “irreversibly damage” the prospects of a future two-state solution.
“We need to move, we need to respond, particularly to breaches of international law,” she said.
The Irish Government is hosting the informal “Gymnich” meeting of foreign ministers in Druids Glen, Co Wicklow, as part of its Council of the EU presidency, a deal-making role that passes between member states every six months.