Brussels has been told that if it wants to help make peace in the Middle East endure after Donald Trump’s Gaza plan—rather than just complain from the sidelines—it must scrap its penalties against Israel.
Avi Nir-Feldklein, Israel’s new ambassador to the European Union, said it is now possible “to overcome this short, uncomfortable situation that we have between us right now and to resume the good relations that we had.”
This would include the reversal of plans, announced last month by Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, to freeze all EU payments to Israel, curb trade ties and sanction so-called “extremist” Israeli ministers.
But if the EU prefers symbolic gestures to concrete diplomacy, it could always follow the British example. After Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said on Sunday that the UK had been a leading player in negotiations, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee branded her “delusional,” adding:
She can thank Donald Trump any time just to set the record straight.
The last of Israel’s surviving hostages returned home on Monday, October 13th, as part of Trump’s peace deal. They had been in captivity for 737 days.
It’s no surprise, then, that even some EU leaders who initially reacted coolly to the U.S. president’s announcement of the deal are now showering him with praise. European Council President António Costa, for example, toldPolitico that Trump should be complimented for his “leadership” as well as the “tireless work of all mediators,” which meant that “for the first time in a long time, there is real hope” for peace.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, by contrast, was an early and emphatic backer. On Monday, he thanked Trump on Monday for inviting him to take part in the Peace Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, where U.S., Qatari, Turkish and Egyptian leaders are set to sign the Middle East Peace Plan. He said that “President Trump has made it happen,
and if we do not fall for the pro-war siren calls, he will get it done in Ukraine as well. We must give him all the support he needs for that.
🕊️ President @realDonaldTrump has done it again! Upon his invitation, I will attend the Peace Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh today, where the leaders of the USA, Qatar, Türkiye, and Egypt will sign the Middle East Peace Plan. A tremendous achievement. President Trump has made it… pic.twitter.com/xz0HF2eclZ
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
