Public Comment

A seismic shift is occurring in European capitals increasingly frustrated by Israeli’s intransigence towards Palestinian sovereignty, – building more and more settlements on Palestinian land - and its home demolitions. The European Union has urged Israel to immediately halt its expansionist policies, end its illegal occupation and lift the siege of Gaza. Current Israel policy, driven by right wing ideologues, is fueling much of the intensifying Palestinian rage and the cycle of unending violence. 

Dahlia Scheindlin, an Israeli analyst and pollster, said, “Israel is losing Europe and Public opinion has shifted decidedly against Israel.” There is a growing realization that the soft talk of the US Administration has been an abject failure and must be replaced with European economic sanctions. 

The antipathy towards Israel has heightened after its attack on Gaza last summer which resulted in large number of fatalities of innocent civilians and enormous damage to its basic infrastructure. European leaders fully comprehend that unless the siege of Gaza is lifted, the people of Gaza will live in a perpetual state of suicidal despair. Unlike the US, where images of the attack on Gaza were largely hidden, the Europeans witnessed raw images which reshaped their perception of the conflict. 

If Israel continues on its present course it could seriously jeopardize its lucrative trade with Europe worth about 30 billion euros a year and its tariff-free access to the 28 member states.