Suspend the association agreement between the European Union and Israel, an agreement on which a trade exchange of 48 billion euros a year depends. This is what about sixty international organizations that defend press freedom are asking Brussels to do, pointing the finger at attacks on media freedom and the killing of an “unprecedented” number of journalists by Tel Aviv during the war in Gaza against Hamas.
Journalists under attack
Following the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government adopted a series of measures “to limit media freedom that have effectively led to the establishment of a regime of censorship,” reads the letter sent to the European Commission and signed, among others, by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and the European Federation of Journalists. The signatories ask European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis to suspend the association agreement, which concerns trade in particular, and “targeted sanctions against those responsible” for human rights violations.
The appeal
Since October 7, more than 100 Palestinian journalists have died in the conflict, as well as two Israelis and three Lebanese, making it “the deadliest period” for the press in decades, the letter continues. Some of the victims may have been “targeted,” the signatory organizations allege. The NGOs also point to the de facto ban on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip and the “arbitrary detentions” of media professionals. “The cumulative effect of these abuses creates the conditions for an information vacuum, and also leaves room for propaganda and disinformation,” the signatories stress.
Business relations
The NGOs’ appeal will undoubtedly find agreement with Borrell, who already in May had raised the possibility of suspending the association agreement. But it is unlikely that the EU High Representative will be able to follow through on this measure: to do so, the unanimity of the 27 member states would be needed.
The EU is Tel Aviv’s main trading partner: in 2022, 25.6% of Israel’s exports of goods to the world were directed towards EU countries. Between goods and services, the value of Israeli exports to the EU amounted to over 26 billion euros, according to data from the European Council.
