Last year’s “State of the European Union” speech made headlines when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen finally proposed suspending the trade part of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and sanctioning Israeli ministers and settlers. One year on, almost none of those measures have been adopted, and as more and more EU countries and allies adopt bans on trade with Israel’s illegal settlements, von der Leyen’s Europe is lagging behind.
These failures come with consequences: not only for her own credibility and that of the EU, but most of all for the lives of millions displaced, killed or wounded in Palestine and across the region.
Von der Leyen should use this year’s address to remedy that, by firstly making good on last year’s proposals, then by ensuring the EU joins the ranks of those banning trade with Israel’s illegal settlements.
Proposals with no follow up
Von der Leyen’s proposals last year came only after an official declaration of famine in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli authorities unlawfully blocked humanitarian aid as part of their genocidal campaign
Her proposals followed mass protests across Europe demanding an end to EU inaction and complicity, and calls by several EU member states and civil society groups to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, whose essential human rights clause the EU found to have been breached by Israel.
“It truly pains me to say these words”, she confessed before announcing her proposals, which also included targeted sanctions against “extremist” Israeli ministers and settlers, and a suspension of a few million euros worth of EU funding to Israeli projects.
But there she stopped. As Germany and Italy obstructed the suspension of the Agreement and Hungary and Czechia vetoed sanctions against Israeli ministers, von der Leyen was reticent to speak out, in stark contrast to her approach on Hungary’s repeated vetoes on EU sanctions against Russia.
And while the EU repeated its condemnations of Israel’s illegal settlements, von der Leyen resisted growing calls to introduce a ban on the EU trade fueling the settlements’ economy and related abuses.
Von der Leyen also remained silent as Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar lashed out at EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, nor did she comment when EU Commissioner Dubravka Šuica met him in Tel Aviv shortly after, exposing a growing division and lack of solidarity in her Commission mirroring those among EU states.
As Europe showed weakness, divisions and its inability to deliver more than a handful of sanctions against Israeli settlers, the situation in the region kept deteriorating.
Israel’s spiralling abuses
When von der Leyen’s delivered her 2025 speech, at least 64,000 Palestinians had been killed in the Gaza Strip. That number is now close to 74,000 despite a so-called “ceasefire” in force since October 2025. Israeli authorities continue to impose severe, arbitrary and unlawful aid restrictions as they have confined the population into approximately 30 percent of the territory, and are once again openly discussing plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population.
In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, despite protests by the EU and other close allies, Israeli authorities have turbocharged the expansion of illegal settlements. This resulted in expedited home demolitions, land seizure, fragmentation and dispossession of Palestinians – hallmarks of Israel’s ethnic cleansing and apartheid against Palestinians. At least 88 Palestinians, including 22 children, have been killed in the West Bank this year alone, bringing the total since October 2023 to nearly 1,100.
Israeli authorities also adopted a death penalty bill that de facto applies to Palestinians only and continue to detain thousands of Palestinians without charges or trial, including doctors like Hussam Abu Safiya, subjecting many to systematic torture.
In Lebanon, despite ceasefires that went into effect on April 17 and June 20, Israeli attacks have killed at least 4,383 people since the beginning of the March 2026 escalation, including 261 children, 399 women, and 135 medical workers, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Israeli forces continue to cause widespread destruction and mass displacement, committing acts that Amnesty International has found to constitute war crimes.
Von der Leyen’s responsibilities
As President of the European Commission, von der Leyen has the duty to ensure that all EU policies – including its policies on trade and foreign affairs – comply with international law.
She can’t hide behind the EU’s humanitarian aid to Palestinians while doing nothing to address the reasons why such aid is so desperately needed. Nor can she blame member states for not approving her half-hearted proposals: she should actively and vocally engage with them and urge them to comply with the legal obligations under the UN Genocide Convention.
By the time of last year’s speech, Amnesty International, Al-Haq, B’Tselem, UN experts, and the International Association of Genocide Scholars were among those who had already concluded Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Shortly after, a UN independent Commission of Inquiry confirmed those findings.
But whether von der Leyen agrees with the genocide qualification is irrelevant: under the Genocide Convention, awareness of a “serious risk” of genocide triggers the “duty to prevent”, compelling all states parties to that treaty – including all EU states – to “employ all means reasonably available to them, so as to prevent genocide so far as possible”. For the EU, that means suspending the Association Agreement and sanctioning Israeli officials.
Von der Leyen should also reaffirm the EU’s commitment to international justice and propose the use of the EU blocking statute to protect the International Criminal Court and those cooperating with it from crippling sanctions, adopted by the US as part of its campaign to dismantle the Court and shield its own and Israeli officials from accountability.
Von der Leyen should use this speech to propose an EU-wide ban of trade with Israel’s illegal settlements Much as she did with the Association Agreement, she doesn’t need preemptive support by the EU Council. No matter how much it might “pain” her, she should put the proposal on the table, and actively engage with member states, especially Germany and Italy, to ensure she has the necessary qualified majority to approve a measure that is required by international law.
Amid global turmoil and instability, Europe and the world desperately need principled, committed leaders determined to uphold the rules, especially those devised to prevent, punish and redress the worst atrocities, and adopt all necessary measures to that end.
For the EU, another year of failures, inaction and half-hearted proposals is blow to its credibility. For Palestinians and so many others in the region, it's a matter of life and death.
