EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Wants It to Suspend Engagement with Israel, But Have Closer Ties with Iran 

For the past five years, Josep Borrell has served as the European Union’s foreign policy chief. In that role, he has become a constant scold of the Jewish state, becoming ever more critical since Israel launched its attack on Hamas in Gaza on October 8, 2023. Now, as he comes to the end of his term, that ends on December 1, he has announced that he will recommend that the EU call a halt to its dialogue with Israel, in order to pressure it to bring its war in Gaza to a halt. And at the same time, he intends to urge greater engagement with Iran, even as that country makes threats to “crush” the Jewish state. More on Borrell’s plans can be found here: “EU must put pressure on Israel over Gaza war, Borrell says,” Reuters, November 18, 2024:

The European Union’s top diplomat on Monday confirmed he would suggest to members of the bloc that the EU pauses its political dialogue with Israel, citing the country’s conduct of the war in Gaza.

“Many people tried to stop the war in Gaza… this has not happened yet. And I don’t see a hope for this to happen. That’s why we have to put pressure on the Israeli government, and also, obviously on the Hamas side,” Josep Borrell told journalists ahead of an EU meeting.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief last week proposed that the bloc suspend its political dialogue with Israel, citing possible human rights violations in the war in Gaza, according to four diplomats and a letter seen by Reuters.

Elder of Ziyon adds: “He also falsely claimed that 70% of those killed in Gaza were women and children, a ridiculous assertion that even Gaza’s health ministry has shown is not close to true.” The key statistic about casualties in the Gaza war is this: Hamas says there are now 43,500 dead. It does not distinguish civilian from combatant deaths. The IDF has said that it has now killed 19,000 Hamas operatives. Even if we were to ignore entirely the fact that about 9600 (800 per month) of the deaths in Gaza were not combat-related, but the result of diseases and accidents, that would mean that 24,500 of the dead, out of a total of 43,500, would have been civilians — that is, 56%. And why should anyone think that those 56% consisted only of women and children? Are we supposed to believe that there were no men among the civilians who died? This defies belief — but not the belief of the credulous Josep Borrell.

Elder of Ziyon adds:

In April, Borrell spoke to Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and cringingly told hi exactly what Iran wants to hear from the EU. Borrell told him that the EU condemned Israel’s airstrike on Iranian and Hezbollah terrorists in Syria, claiming (falsely) that they violated the Vienna Convention because it was inside a compound that included the Iranian embassy – even though it was being used to plan more attacks on Israel.

Following that meeting, Borrell told reporters that “the EU needs to have the best possible relations with Iran.”

So Borrell simultaneously supports engagement with Iran, pressuring and isolating Israel and merely pretending to pressure Hamas.

As one EU parliament member said ahead of Borrell’s end of term on December 1,  “We won’t miss you, Mr. Borrell, but I’m sure the mullahs will.”

Why does the EU have to have the best possible relations with Iran? Iran has funded and supplied weapons to a host of terror proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. It has encouraged attacks by Houthis on international shipping in the Red Sea that has made shipping costs soar, for many ships sailing between Europe and Asia can no longer use the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, but must go around the Cape of Good Hope and up the western side of Africa to Europe. It has supplied the terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah with the weapons and the financial wherewithal to attack Israel. It has supplied weapons to the war criminal Vladimir Putin. It has suppressed the ethnic minorities — the Baluchis, Kurds, Azeris, and Arabs — who together make up 50% of Iran’s population, and who want to have much more autonomy within Iran, and in some cases, hope to separate from Iran altogether. Iran has hired assassins to kill the enemies of its regime in both North America and Europe. The people of Iran are being held in thrall to a murderous regime and are desperate for change. Many of them look to Europe and North America to pressure the regime in Tehran to ease up on its despotism. Why should the European Union want to encourage “the best possible relations” with such a country? Why shouldn’t the EU, instead, join with President Trump when he reimposes sanctions on Iran, and impose sanctions of its own?

Josep Borrell will, thank god, be out of office on December 1. Let’s hope his successor is both morally, and geopoliitcally, a great improvement. He (or she) could hardly be worse.