Germany against suspending EU deal with Israel, says official

BERLIN: Germany does not support calls to suspend a pact governing Israel’s relations with the European Union, a government official said on Monday, highlighting divisions within the bloc.

There has been deepening concern in European capitals in recent months about Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the humanitarian situation in the enclave.

Spain’s foreign minister said earlier on Monday he would ask the EU council to approve an immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association agreement in protest over what he called human rights violations in Gaza.

The bloc’s diplomatic service also said on Friday that Israel may have breached its human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank under the deal. Israel rejected that report as a “moral and methodological failure”.

“Our position is very clear - we do not support either a suspension or a partial suspension,” the official said at a German government briefing. As such an upcoming EU summit will involve intense discussions about Iran and Israel but is unlikely to result in any decisions, the official said.

Germany has long followed a policy of special responsibility for Israel, known as the Staatsraeson, due to the legacy of the Nazi Holocaust, and been much slower during the current conflict to criticize Israel for its conduct than other EU states.