Bríd Smith criticises EU for ignoring sanctions on Israel
Bríd Smith criticised EU leaders for welcoming a fragile truce in Gaza while failing to discuss sanctions on Israel. She described the Israeli state as "apartheid, racist, vicious," urged the European Union to consider strong sanctions if attacks resumed, and warned the ambassador could be expelled should the situation escalate.
Calls for EU sanctions
Smith said it was extraordinary that EU discussions on foreign policy had debated sanctions on Belarus but had not addressed possible sanctions on Israel. She noted the EU-Israeli deal brings economic ties worth "billions to that state every year" and demanded pressure on European partners to open a sanctions discussion.
Gaza violence and casualties
She criticised the EU response as naive amid a broken truce and renewed bombing of Gaza, saying an "11 days of a vicious attack on the Gaza Strip led to over 260 deaths" and that Israeli forces were carrying out violent operations in Arab areas. Smith described the state actions in strongly critical terms and warned of further escalation.
Comparison with Belarus and European Council action
Smith contrasted the EU's swift move to initiate sanctions over the hijacking of the Rainier plane and the treatment of Roman Protasevich with its silence on Israel. She said the European Council judged Lukashenko's regime to have crossed a line and applied strong sanctions, implying a double standard in EU responses.
Broader geopolitical context
Smith placed the debate in the wider context of President Biden's recent visit to Europe, arguing the moment highlights a struggle between democracies and authoritarian regimes. She condemned the actions she attributed to Lukashenko's regime and framed calls for sanctions on Israel as part of a larger foreign policy test for the EU.
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Teachta, I note that the EU discussions around the various policy issues on foreign policy included a discussion on sanctions on Belarus. Inevitably, you would discuss that, but it is extraordinary that there is no discussion at that level on sanctions, possible sanctions on Israel. I mean, when you look at a fragile truce that is now broken, and as we speak, Israeli aircraft are bombing Gaza yet again, for an 11 days of a vicious attack on the Gaza Strip led to over 260 deaths, we do not know where this is going to lead. And for EU leaders to just say, oh, we welcome the truce and expect it to last, is entirely naive in the extreme, because this is an ongoing situation of a racist apartheid state with an ultra-nationalist Zionist troops of hate marauding through Arab areas, kicking in doors and screaming out debt to all Arabs. This situation is not normal. The Israeli state is not normal. And yet the European Union has economic ties through the EU-Israeli deal that are worth billions to that state every year. And no discussion about sanctions on them. No discussions about if this resumes, there should be strong sanctions on Israel for what they are doing. You can discuss Russia, Belarus, the whole nine yards, but just ignore doing anything about the Israeli state, treating it as if it was a normal state, and it is not. It is clearly an apartheid, racist, vicious state, and that has to be dealt with by the European Union. What are you doing to put pressure on our European partners to have that discussion about sanctions on the Israeli state? And I have no doubt in the next few weeks, we are going to have to return to put pressure on you again about the potential expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from this country, should this situation escalate. There was great anger at the European Council meeting in relation to the hijacking of the Rainier plane, and the subsequent treatment of Roman Protasevich and his partner. The sense that the meeting was that a line had been crossed by Lukashenko's regime, and it is unacceptable. And there was an immediate move to initiate sanctions and strong sanctions against Belarus for its behavior. And in many ways, in the context of President Biden's visit to Europe in the last week or two, I think it really sets the context for what is essentially a struggle now in the modern world of democracies versus authoritarian regimes. And that's more and more where this is heading, when activities of this kind are now almost casually entertained by dictators such as Lukashenko. And, you know, I condemn what the regime has done. I didn't hear any condemnation in relation to it in terms of the questions I've been asked by others. But this is unacceptable behavior. True. If you have a debate about this, you cannot find in that in term. Which is a debate? Detail on the left cannot be discussed. And in that area. Go away from the right to the left to the left. This is where the regime has been resurrected. But when the regime has been requested to each other, the regime has been reserved to the right to my beloved colleagues in the entire country in the United States. The regime has been transported to the right to the right to the right to the left. The regime has been tested for the right to the left.
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