EU diplomats confirm they won't yet sanction Israel on Gaza

EU diplomats on Monday failed to agree once again on a partial suspension of Israel from the Horizon Europe fund in response to the war in Gaza, several diplomats said, according to Euronews.

Gathered online for their regular Mashreq/Maghreb Working Party and despite mounting pressure on Israel over the hunger crisis in Gaza, the 27 EU diplomats still couldn’t reach any qualified majority on a European Commission proposal to cut Israel from partial access to the EU's €95 billion Horizon Europe research fund.

“The situation has not changed,” one EU diplomat said, referring to a formal meeting of EU ambassadors last week which also failed to agree to the Commission’s proposal. The diplomat said the issue was now in the hands of the EU’s foreign affairs ministers, who will meet informally on 29 August, Euronews reported.

With Israel facing global criticism over allowing starvation in the besieged strip and talks between Hamas and Israel at an impasse, the proposal itself would be a largely symbolic gesture.

Israel would lose access to €200 millions' worth of future grants and investments in Horizon's European Investment Council (EIC) which specialises in so-called disruptive technologies. Commission officials say it would not affect support for fundamental or collaborative research.