BRUSSELS: European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday he has asked the bloc’s members to consider imposing sanctions on two Israeli ministers for “hate messages” against Palestinians, messages that he said broke international law.
He did not name either of the ministers. But in recent weeks he has publicly criticized Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for statements he has described as “sinister” and “an incitement to war crimes.”
Borrell said EU foreign ministers held an initial discussion about his proposal at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday. He said there was no unanimity — which would be required to impose sanctions — but the debate would continue.
“The ministers will decide. It’s up to them, as always. But the process has been launched,” he told reporters.
He said he had proposed that the Israeli ministers be sanctioned for violations of human rights. EU sanctions generally mean a ban on travel to the bloc and a freeze on assets held in the EU.
Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz accused Borrell of targeting him with false claims that he had called for Palestinians to be displaced from the West Bank. “I oppose the displacement of any population from their homes,” he said.
Diplomats say it is unlikely the EU would find the necessary unanimous agreement among its 27 members to impose sanctions on Israeli government ministers.
But Borrell’s decision to float such a proposal indicates the level of anger among some European officials over the words and actions of some far-right Israeli ministers.
Even ministers from some countries that are strong allies of Israel, such as Germany and the Czech Republic, did not immediately shut down the sanctions discussion in comments to reporters on the sidelines of Thursday’s meeting.
Ireland, one of the EU’s most pro-Palestinian members, said it backed Borrell’s suggestion.
“We will be supporting Josep Borrell’s recommendation for sanctions in respect of settler organizations in the West Bank who are facilitating (the) expansion of settlements, and also to Israeli ministers,” Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said.
But Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani dismissed the idea.
“We have to resolve the problems, convince the Israelis to make the choices that will lead to a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said. “This is the real priority.”
Borrell asks EU to consider sanctions on 2 Israeli ministers
https://arab.news/wbe5c
Borrell asks EU to consider sanctions on 2 Israeli ministers
- In recent weeks, Borrell publicly criticized Ben-Gvir and Smotrich for statements he has described as “sinister” and “an incitement to war crimes”
Lebanon approves release of former minister accused of corruption
- Salam is the only ex-minister to be arrested since the start of Lebanon’s economic crisis in 2019
- The official added that the bail was paid, with procedures ongoing to secure his release from prison
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s judiciary approved the release on bail of former economy minister Amin Salam on Tuesday after six months of detention over corruption linked to contracts deemed suspicious, a judicial official said.
Salam, who served in the cabinet of former prime minister Najib Mikati from 2021 to 2025, is the only ex-minister to be arrested since the start of Lebanon’s economic crisis in 2019.
The official, who requested anonymity, told AFP Lebanon’s judiciary “agreed to release former economy minister Amin Salam on bail of nine billion Lebanese pounds, equivalent to $100,000” and a travel ban.
The official added that the bail was paid, with procedures ongoing to secure his release from prison.
In June, another judicial official said Salam had been arrested in connection with alleged “falsification, embezzlement and suspicious contracts.”
Salam’s adviser Fadi Tamim was sentenced in 2023 to one year in prison for blackmail and personal enrichment at the expense of insurance companies.
The former minister’s brother Karim Salam was also arrested earlier this year in a “case of illicit enrichment, forgery and extortion of insurance companies,” committed “under cover of the minister himself,” the official said in June.
Many in Lebanon attribute the economic crisis to mismanagement and corruption that has plagued state institutions for decades.
President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who both took office this year, have vowed to make the fight against endemic corruption a priority, as part of the reforms demanded by international donors.
Both have vowed to uphold the independence of the judiciary and prevent interference in its work, in a country plagued by official impunity.
In September, former central bank governor Riad Salameh, who faces numerous accusations including embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion, was released after being detained for over a year by paying a record bail of more than $14 million.
