Suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement

Call to Immediately Suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement and Halt Trade with Israel

We, the European Trade Justice Coalition, call on the European Union (Israel’s biggest trade partner), and its Member States to immediately suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, to suspend all trade in goods and services with and impose sanctions on Israel, as part of the EU’s legal obligations to employ all means available to them to prevent ongoing genocide in Gaza and the maintenance of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

The obligation on the EU and member states to suspend trade with Israel arises from a number of treaties and provisions of customary and international law, including the July 2024 ruling of the International Court of Justice which ruled that third party states and institutions are legally obligated not to recognize, aid, or assist the situation created by this unlawful occupation. All EU member states have ratified or acceded to the UN Genocide Convention and are  legally obliged to employ all lawful means at their disposal to influence Israel to refrain from acts in breach of the Genocide Convention, including through the withholding, reduction, or suspension of any and all forms of assistance, or the suspension or review of trade negotiations and agreements.”

The provisions of the EU Israel Association Agreement,which came into force in 2000  includes a human rights clause (Article 2), stating that respect for human rights and democratic principles is an “essential element”; that the Agreement is conditional upon the parties’ respect for human rights and democratic principles.

Yet despite decades of systematic violations of international law—including the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, settlement expansion, forced displacement, and the denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination and ongoing genocide in Gaza which in which over 54,000 people have been killed, with many more missing and unaccounted for, and the entire population of Gaza facing mass starvation, Israel has continued to enjoy a preferential trading relationship with the EU, which is Israel’s biggest trading partner.

The EU’s continued trade and political cooperation with Israel not only legitimises grave breaches of international law—it risks rendering the Union complicit. UN experts stated in September 2024, states must “cancel or suspend economic relationships, trade agreements and academic relations with Israel that may contribute to its unlawful presence and apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Despite this, the EU has not only failed to suspend the agreement, but it also continues to provide Israel with preferential access to European markets and EU-funded programmes like Horizon Europe. These forms of cooperation serve to bolster Israel’s impunity and enable its ongoing violations, including the genocide in Gaza. The European Union is Israel’s largest trading partner, accounting for 30% of its total trade. Suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement would significantly impact Israel’s economy and consequently the EU has a heightened responsibility to use its position to influence Israel’s conduct.

The recent initiative by several EU Member States to review the Association Agreement—without commitment to suspension—comes far too late. A review that does not lead to tangible consequences would be yet another distraction, allowing business as usual while Israel continues to perpetrate war crimes.

We therefore call for;

1.     Immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, in line with Article 2 and Article 60 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, as well as the suspension of all trade and banking relations;
2.     An EU-wide embargo on arms and military technology and dual use material transfers and transit to Israel, in compliance with the EU Common Position on arms exports and the Arms Trade Treaty;
3.     A halt to all trade and cooperation—including in research, (including participation in Horizon Europe) technology and security—that contributes to the maintenance of Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid regime;
4.     Accountability mechanisms for EU Member States and institutions that fail to comply with their obligations under international law;
5. Suspension of and exclusion from cultural, academic and sports events;

Failing to act is placing the EU on the wrong side of history—as complicit in ongoing war crimes. Words are no longer enough. The time for action is now.

We urge the European Union and its Member States to move from rhetoric to action. Suspend the agreement. Stop trade with apartheid. Act now.