‘Stop saying please and do something’: Top EU diplomat urges US to halt arms supply to Israel
The US should consider using its influence as Israel’s top arms provider to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reduce civilian deaths in Gaza, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said yesterday.
Mr Borrell voiced concern over a planned Israeli incursion into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, where more than half of the enclave’s population has sought shelter.
“Netanyahu doesn’t listen to anyone,” Mr Borrell said. “They are going to evacuate. Where? To the Moon? Where are they going to evacuate these people?”
On Sunday, US President Joe Biden said Israel had gone “over the top” in its military operation in Gaza, and urged it to formulate a “credible” plan to ensure civilians’ safety.
Mr Borrell urged Mr Biden to back up his words with action. “President Biden says it’s over the top, it’s not proportional,” he said.
“Well, if you believe too many are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many being killed. It’s not logical?
“This is a little bit contradictory to continue saying too many people are being killed, please take care of people, please don’t kill so many people. Stop saying please, and do something.”
Mr Borrell recalled that Washington had paused the supply of weapons to Israel before, during its war with Lebanese militia Hezbollah in 2006.
The US is the largest supplier of military aid to Israel, which also buys arms from several European countries. Last year, German defence exports to the country rose tenfold, to $323 million.
Mr Borrell’s remarks came as a court in the Netherlands ruled that the country must stop sending F-35 combat aircraft parts to Israel, saying the supply put Amsterdam at risk of breaching international law.
The lawsuit against the government was filed by three human rights organisations in December. In their suit, the groups said the Dutch state risked becoming complicit in war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip
“It is undeniable that there is a clear risk the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the court said, ordering the government to comply with the ruling within seven days.
Presiding judge Bas Boele said there was a possibility the Dutch government could allow the export of F-35 parts to Israel in future, but only on the strict condition they would not be used during military operations in Gaza.
Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Geoffrey van Leeuwen immediately appealed against the decision at the Dutch Supreme Court. However, the government must implement the ruling in the meantime.
In a statement, the government said it believes that “the distribution of American F-35 parts is not unlawful”, and said their supply to Israel was crucial for both countries’ security, “in particular with regard to threats emanating from the region, for instance from Iran,
Yemen, Syria and Lebanon”. However, it added, the decision to appeal against the ruling is “separate from the situation in Gaza”, where the Netherlands “continues to call for an immediate temporary humanitarian ceasefire, and for as much humanitarian aid as possible to be allowed to reach the suffering people of Gaza”.
One of the human rights groups that filed the lawsuit disagreed that the supply of F-35 parts had no link to the conflict.
“Hopefully, [the ruling] contributes to protecting the people in Gaza,” Dirk Jan Jalvingh, policy adviser for conflict and humanitarian response at Oxfam Novib, told The National.
“The fact that we had to take the state to court is quite depressing. Ideally, you’d want the Dutch government to stand firmly for international humanitarian law. Hopefully this will bring a change in the political discussion.
“The Dutch state has basically said they unequivocally support Israel since the October 7 attacks, and has been very uncritical of the Israeli government’s actions,” Mr Jalvingh said.
He described the court ruling as a “slap on the fingers”, but hoped that it would give other EU states “something to think about”.
The Netherlands is bound by the EU’s common position on arms exports, which includes a clause on respect for human rights and international humanitarian law in the country of final destination.
The court’s ruling came as Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited Israel and the occupied West Bank. “It’s quite a coincidence,” Mr Jalvingh said. “It could be that he’s there to explain his position.”
Oxfam Novib director Michiel Servaes said: “We hope this ruling will strengthen international law in other countries so that the citizens of Gaza are also protected by international law.”
In December last year, a lower court stopped short of ordering the government to halt the exports, but conceded that they probably contributed to breaches of the laws of war.
But while the lower court ruled that the state had a large degree of freedom to govern arms exports, the higher court yesterday said that this freedom did not outweigh the clear risk of breaches of international law.
The higher court also said the F-35s were probably being used during attacks on Gaza, leading to unacceptable civilian casualties. It dismissed the government’s argument that it is not obligated to reassess the permit for the exports.
The Dutch government used its veto on arms exports to Israel 29 times between 2004 and 2020, Dutch newspaper
NRC reported in November. It quoted government sources as saying they feared a veto this time would damage relations with Israel and the US.
Borrell recalled that the US had paused the supply of arms to Israel before, during its war with Hezbollah in 2006