{"id":129344,"date":"2026-07-14T10:50:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T05:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=129344"},"modified":"2026-07-14T10:50:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T05:50:43","slug":"eu-divided-over-curbing-trade-with-israeli-settlements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/","title":{"rendered":"EU divided over curbing trade with Israeli settlements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BRUSSELS(National Times)- A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2003260\">ban\u00a0<\/a>on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank received the strongest backing among European Union foreign ministers on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, although the bloc remained divided over possible curbs on such commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">European governments have increased pressure for EU action in recent months, citing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Neta\u00adnyahus government, which has expanded settlements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At a meeting in Brussels, the ministers debated three options set out in a confidential paper by the European Commission \u2014 an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs or a ban, according to people familiar with the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kallas said a ban received the most support among the representatives of the EU\u2019s 27 countries but diplomats said there was no clear majority for any single option. Kallas said ambassadors from member states had been tasked with further work on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said EU members were split between those like his own that favour a ban, others who were opposed and a middle group of countries that are still considering their position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn the coming weeks, there needs to be clarity about where that group in the middle stands. Then we hope to be able to take another step at the end of the summer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Divisions run deep<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EU governments and institutions even disagree on the legal basis required for any move to curb trade with the settlements. The European Commission and some EU governments say it would require unanimity among member states. Other governments and the legal service of the Council of the EU, which represents member countries, say it would need a qualified majority \u2014 at least 15 EU states, representing 65pc of the bloc\u2019s population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Kallas of using diplomatic \u201ctricks\u201d to try to push through a ban. \u201cIsrael\u2019s relations with Europe should be based on dialogue and fairness,\u201d Saar said on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier in the day, Kallas declined to say what her preferred option was, adding it did not matter as she was seeking to find common ground among the EU\u2019s members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">UN bodies and most countries have found Israel\u2019s settlements in the West Bank to be illegal. Israel rejects this, viewing the territory as disputed and saying a Jewish presence has existed there for thousands of years. In a July 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice said Israel\u2019s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements in the West Bank are illegal and that states should take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that help maintain the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Monday\u2019s debate exposed longstanding differences among EU members on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. \u201cThere is no room for dilly-dallying,\u201d Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe stand with international law and believe what needs to be done is banning that trade.\u201d But his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, said the EU\u2019s focus should be on pressing the Israeli government to take action against violent settlers. \u201cThat is a united position shared by the whole European Union,\u201d Wadephul said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BRUSSELS(National Times)- A\u00a0ban\u00a0on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank received the strongest backing among European Union foreign ministers on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, although the bloc remained divided over possible curbs on such commerce. European governments have increased pressure for EU action in recent months, citing violence by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EU divided over curbing trade with Israeli settlements - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EU divided over curbing trade with Israeli settlements - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BRUSSELS(National Times)- A\u00a0ban\u00a0on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank received the strongest backing among European Union foreign ministers on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, although the bloc remained divided over possible curbs on such commerce. European governments have increased pressure for EU action in recent months, citing violence by [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-14T05:50:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-14T05:50:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-18.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/\",\"name\":\"EU divided over curbing trade with Israeli settlements - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-18.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-14T05:50:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-14T05:50:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-18.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-18.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EU divided over curbing trade with Israeli settlements\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EU divided over curbing trade with Israeli settlements - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129344\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EU divided over curbing trade with Israeli settlements - Nation","og_description":"BRUSSELS(National Times)- A\u00a0ban\u00a0on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank received the strongest backing among European Union foreign ministers on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, although the bloc remained divided over possible curbs on such commerce. 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