EU to gauge member states' willingness to take action against Israel

The European Union’s top diplomat has said the bloc will gauge the willingness of member states to take measures against Israel, after Spain re-uped demands to suspend a cooperation deal, reports AFP. Foreign ministers from the 27-nation bloc are expected to discuss the matter at a meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday after a call from Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday the bloc will gauge the willingness of member states to take measures against Israel after Spain re-upped demands to suspend a cooperation deal.
Attitudes towards Israel among key EU member states, hardened over its conduct in the war in Gaza, stiffened further after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and a new law on the death penalty for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.  Facing alarm at the civilian toll exacted in the Gaza war, the EU last year already put on the table a raft of potential measures to punish Israel including cutting trade ties or sanctioning government ministers.
But so far none of the steps laid out by Brussels has garnered enough support from member states to be put into action.  A separate proposal for sanctions on "extremist" Israeli settlers in the West Bank had been vetoed by Budapest for months.  Diplomats and EU officials say they hope to get the greenlight for those measures soon but that it could take until Hungary's new government comes to power in May.