Amnesty claims EU hosting Israeli FM brushes country’s alleged crimes ‘under the carpet’

Amnesty International calls it “unconscionable” that the European Union is welcoming Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Brussels next week while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant have warrants out for their arrest.

“Discussions on the EU’s future relationship with Israel should above all be premised on an insistence that Netanyahu and former defence minister Gallant face justice at the ICC for the crimes they are alleged to have committed, as well as on Israel’s adherence to international law and an end to apartheid,” says Eve Geddie, Amnesty International’s Director at European Institutions Office.

She blames the EU for prioritizing ties “with a government implicated in the commission of genocide and war crimes, over support to an institution which is pursuing individual accountability for these crimes.”

“EU leaders should be deciding what measures to take to prevent the EU from aiding Israeli genocide, apartheid and unlawful occupation instead of brushing these under the carpet for a diplomatic handshake in Brussels,” she says.