European Union member states failed to gather the necessary majority to remove Israel from the research program “Horizon Europe“ in response to the ongoing war in Gaza, News.bg reports.
Germany and Italy, two of the most influential countries in the EU, announced that they needed more time to consider the proposal. Without their support, the decision could not be adopted.
If an agreement had been reached, Israel would have lost access to future grants and investments worth around 200 million euros from the European Innovation Council (EIC), part of “Horizon Europe“, aimed at innovative technologies.
“Germany wanted to continue the dialogue with Israel instead of taking action, but we all know that dialogue does not work“, commented a diplomatic source quoted by Euronews. Another diplomat added that Germany, which opposes any sanctions against Israel, is currently “holding the cards“.
According to sources, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have also opposed any measures.
At the same time, the Netherlands, Ireland, France, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Portugal, Malta and Spain support the European Commission's proposal and insist on even stricter sanctions, including in the field of trade.
The initiative to limit Israel's participation in “Horizon Europe“ is in response to an internal EU report, according to which Israel has violated its human rights commitments under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Following the report, Israel has pledged to significantly increase access to humanitarian aid, food and medicine to the civilian population in Gaza in order to avoid possible EU sanctions.
However, according to Brussels, there has been no significant improvement, and Israel's claims that it is allowing more aid trucks cannot be independently verified, as EU officials are still not allowed access to the Gaza Strip.
“I have not received any convincing explanation as to why I cannot go to Gaza“, said a senior EU official.
Meanwhile, the UN and aid agencies are reporting that the humanitarian catastrophe is deepening. More than 130 people have died of starvation, including 88 children, according to international sources.
On Monday, two leading Israeli NGOs, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), published a report alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
During a meeting of EU ambassadors on Tuesday, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll since the start of the conflict had surpassed 60,000. On Tuesday alone, 81 people were killed, 32 of whom were seeking help, the ministry added.