EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas calls for trade ban on illegal Israeli settlements

An EU-wide ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements would be a “principled stance” to take for the bloc, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said, comparing illegal settlements in the West Bank to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.

“If we take the example when Crimea was occupied, then it was very clear, it’s illegal, we don’t recognize this, which means that we stop the trade with any products that come from Crimea,” Kallas said in an interview with the Irish Times published Friday. “We should have the same principled stance — you know this is illegal, everybody agrees — so we should stop trading with Occupied Territories.”

Israel’s mission to the EU and NATO described the comments as “deeply unfortunate.”

“Especially today, on the eve of the Jewish New Year, it is hard to believe that [she] would draw a direct parallel between The Western wall and the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem and the situation in Crimea, regardless of her personal worldview,” the mission said.

The EU foreign policy chief has long backed a push from several member countries to pressure the European Commission to ban trade with territories illegally occupied by Israel — an issue that divides capitals and has become a flashpoint in the rift between Kallas and the Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen.

Kallas’ backing has so far failed to force the Commission’s hand. In July, only a minority of EU foreign ministers called on the Commission to bring specific measures for member countries to vote on. While a handful of countries including the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden have pushed for bloc-wide restrictions, the Czech Republic has vowed to oppose any new sanctions — withholding the unanimity required among EU capitals.

But the debate was reignited Tuesday when eight EU countries, including France, Spain and Ireland, joined the U.K. and Canada in a pledge to impose trade sanctions on Israeli settlements.

“All EU Member States agree that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law,” Kallas said after the announcement. “The Israeli Government’s settlement expansions in the West Bank are undermining the prospects for a viable two-State solution.”

Kallas’ positions have previously drawn the ire of Israeli officials. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar vowed to “sever all contact” with the EU’s top diplomat in June, after reports that she had compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to apartheid-era South Africa.