UK newspaper "The Financial Times" (FT) has published an editorial calling on the EU to suspend Israel’s association agreement. The agreement serves as the basis for relations between the EU and Israel, including the free trade agreement and political relations, academic and cultural cooperation and more.
In doing so, the FT joins countries such as Ireland, Spain and Belgium, which have consistently demanded the suspension of the agreement over the past two years, due to claims that Israel is not fulfilling its obligations under international law.
An editorial published yesterday in the newspaper entitled "Israel’s de-facto annexation of the West Bank" opens "Palestinian villagers are under siege, farmers cut off from their land. Almost daily Jewish settler violence drives yet more families from their homes. This has become the norm in the occupied West Bank over the past three years under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu." The newspaper describes the response of Israel’s western allies to this as "meek."
The FT then mentions continued construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. "This month, the government issued tenders for about 1,200 Jewish housing units in the territory’s E1 area, which would further fragment the West Bank, cut the territory in two and could prove fatal to any hopes of a contiguous Palestinian state. The scheme was shelved by successive Israeli governments because it was so controversial. But Netanyahu and his supporters appear to be rushing to change facts on the ground before Israelis go to the polls."
On Gaza, the newspaper said, "The catastrophe in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, has drawn much international attention. But the disaster unfolding in the West Bank cannot be ignored. Israel has many legitimate security concerns, but its actions in the territory amount to land grabs in the service of ideology.
"Ban exports from the settlements"
Therefore, the newspaper calls for comprehensive sanctions on Jewish settlements. It mentions the Netherlands, which has imposed harsh sanctions that could threaten overall trade with Israel and that will come into effect on September 22. It also mentions that UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to announce such sanctions soon.
The newspaper says, "Western states should take a common stand on banning exports from settlements they deem illegal.should unite to suspend the bloc's association agreement with Israel."
This initiative has been discussed in top EU forums consistently over the past two years, but has been torpedoed by pro-Israeli EU countries, including Germany and Italy. A plan for sanctions on settlements was also discussed without a decision at the last meeting of EU foreign ministers. But pressure is mounting, and this week the foreign ministers are expected to meet again to discuss the matter. The EU's foreign relations chief, Kaja Kallas, has promised to raise the issue of sanctions on Israel again.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that it is boycotting Kallas over her position and also announced the expulsion of the Netherlands from the multinational ceasefire monitoring mission in response to the sanctions on the settlements. Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar publicly threatened yesterday to expel the UK from the mission if its government announces sanctions on the settlements.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 2, 2026.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.