A senior official within the European Union has warned that some member states might impose bilateral sanctions on Israel over its efforts to extend sovereignty to Judea and Samaria communities.
This new path to punishing Israel has been explored in recent days after a collective measure against Israel on this issue failed to pass in Brussels.
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This new plan essentially circumvents the normal procedures that require consensus among EU members on foreign policy. If it is implemented, the plan would see the hostile countries in the EU cancel various agreements with Israel, as well as projects and programs that are carried out in collaboration with the Jewish state.
Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, who has been leading the hostile EU policies toward Israel in recent years, admitted on Friday that Austria and Hungary torpedoed a censure of Israel over its sovereignty moves. Israel plans to move toward extending its sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria based on the Trump administration's peace plan. mThe move is likely to pick up pace in the coming months now that a government has been formed in Jerusalem.
The failed motion was to include a warning to Israel not annex territory in order to prevent a rupture between the EU and Israel.
Asselborn drafted a plan with his Irish counterpart that included four points and he said that "a large number of member states were supportive of the move" but it could not be passed because of the Austrian and Hungarian veto.
Asselborn wants the EU to adopt the same policy toward Israel as that it has adopted toward Russia following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
