]By: Fern Sidman

Euro News reported on Monday about a proposal from EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that purports to chart ten possible responses the European Union might adopt against Israel over its Gaza campaign. But as Euro News itself underscores, despite the exhaustive nature of Kallas’s list, there is, in reality, little appetite among EU member states to implement any of these measures.

Kallas’s proposals, revealed in a document obtained by Euro News, range from suspending visa-free travel for Israelis to halting trade preferences and even suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement entirely. Such measures would represent a sweeping rupture in EU-Israel relations. Yet, as Euro News reported, the proposals are unlikely to materialize — and for good reason.

The entire premise behind Kallas’s initiative seems rooted in an increasingly one-sided interpretation of international law — one that treats Israel not as a democratic ally facing existential threats, but as a pariah state deserving of punishment. The Euro News report pointed out that Kallas is invoking alleged Israeli breaches of the Association Agreement’s human rights clauses. However, what Euro News subtly concedes — but does not emphasize — is that the agreement’s human rights clauses were never intended as political cudgels in asymmetric warfare contexts.

Israel National News and other sources have consistently reminded international audiences that Israel’s military action in Gaza followed the unprovoked Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which left over 1,200 civilians dead and 251 taken hostage. Yet Euro News, echoing much of the European media chorus, repeats casualty figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry without challenging their credibility — a pattern of reporting that distorts the actual context of the conflict.

Kallas’s original plan, according to the report at Euro News, featured five proposed actions. But in what seems more like an exercise in political grandstanding than genuine diplomacy, she doubled the list to ten. Euro News quoted EU diplomats revealing that this expansion aimed to give member states the ability to act unilaterally, bypassing normal commission procedures. This is a clear indication that certain factions within the EU are less interested in achieving peace and more intent on political signaling.

However, as the Euro News report noted, many EU countries are distancing themselves from Kallas’s aggressive posture. Nations such as Germany, Italy, Hungary, and the Czech Republic appear unwilling to back sanctions if Israel complies with the humanitarian agreement Kallas brokered just last week. The report at Euro News highlighted that Israel has already taken tangible steps under this agreement — opening the Zikim border crossing, allowing fuel deliveries, repairing water infrastructure, and reopening the Jordanian route for aid.

These concrete actions by Israel, as acknowledged by Euro News, undermine the narrative that Israel operates in reckless disregard of humanitarian norms. Yet anti-Israel elements within the EU, particularly Ireland and Spain, persist in their calls for punitive measures, revealing a double standard that ignores Hamas’s role in initiating and perpetuating this war.

Even Euro News conceded that the EU remains deeply divided, with most member states reluctant to move against Israel, particularly given the fragile success of recent humanitarian agreements. One diplomat told Euro News that Israel must not only agree to terms on paper but implement them on the ground — a fair expectation, but one Israel is demonstrably working to fulfill.

Curiously absent from Euro News reporting is any meaningful scrutiny of Hamas, whose October 7 atrocities triggered the current conflict. The article’s emphasis on Israeli airstrikes and blockade measures, without context, contributes to a narrative imbalance. The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) has repeatedly noted that Israel’s military campaign is a direct response to terrorism and hostage-taking by Hamas — realities that seem conspicuously underplayed in Euro News coverage.

Moreover, as the report in Euro News acknowledged, albeit briefly, that the Gaza casualty figures they cite come exclusively from Hamas-controlled sources. Yet the lack of any caveat or skepticism regarding these numbers perpetuates a misleading portrayal of Israel’s actions as disproportionate or indiscriminate. This serves the propaganda aims of Hamas, which manipulates civilian suffering to delegitimize Israel’s right to self-defense — a reality that outlets such as JNS have persistently exposed.

The inclusion of Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur sanctioned by Washington for her overtly biased conduct, and Philippe Lazzarini of UNRWA in the upcoming Bogotá summit, further draws attention to the anti-Israel bias inherent in the gathering. As Euro News reported, both are slated to address the summit, which seeks to galvanize action against Israel under the guise of enforcing international law. Yet, there is a glaring omission: no equivalent outrage or summit against Hamas, whose actions sparked this crisis and who continue to hold Israeli civilians hostage.

Indeed, the fact that the summit is co-hosted by South Africa — a country leading an ICC case against Israel — and Colombia, which severed diplomatic ties with Israel in May 2024, casts serious doubt on the objectivity of the proceedings. Euro News’s reporting confirmed that the countries attending the summit include some of the most vocal critics of Israel, many of whom have taken steps to block arms shipments to the Jewish state or support ICC action against it.

The glaring double standard, as highlighted by both JNS and, indirectly, by Euro News, is that Israel’s efforts to defend itself and rescue hostages are treated with suspicion and hostility, while Hamas’s terror campaign and use of human shields escape equivalent condemnation.

At a time when Israel faces existential threats, including calls for its destruction from Iran-backed terror groups, Euro News’s reporting illustrates how certain EU officials and member states seem more interested in posturing against Israel than confronting the real threats to regional peace and security.

Israel’s right to self-defense — including military action against terrorist groups that target its civilians — is not only legitimate but essential. While Euro News does report the facts of the humanitarian agreement and the EU’s internal divisions, its framing often echoes the anti-Israel narratives advanced by hostile actors. The EU’s so-called “options” for action against Israel, as reported by Euro News, represent more a political ploy than a genuine path to peace. They risk emboldening Hamas and further destabilizing the region, rather than holding accountable those truly responsible for Gaza’s suffering.