In a somber atmosphere, 26 European heads of state and government met virtually on Tuesday, October 17. Only Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who was visiting China to meet Vladimir Putin, was absent.
This extraordinary European Council meeting took place 10 days after the brutal Hamas attack on Israel, which left some 1,400 people dead, and the initial response from the Jewish state, which has since caused the death of more than 3,000 Palestinians as a result of bombings.
"Our unity is our strength," explained European Council President Charles Michel. This unity was all the more necessary after a week of confusion over the future of European aid to Palestine, and divergent positions taken by the EU's various leaders, making Europe's position effectively inaudible around the world, particularly in the Middle East.
"It is of utmost importance that the European Council, in line with the treaties and our values, sets our common position and establishes a clear unified course of action that reflects the complexity of the unfolding situation," Michel underlined before the discussions.
"We strongly emphasize Israel’s right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law in the face of such violent and indiscriminate attacks," the European leaders said in a joint statement. "We reiterate the importance to ensure the protection of all civilians at all times in line with international humanitarian law."
As early as October 10, the foreign ministers had agreed on this balanced position. But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen found it hard to espouse their position. In a surprise visit to Israel on October 13, alongside European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, she did not represent the voice of the EU member states, according to several diplomats, but her own.
She condemned the Hamas attacks and supported the policy of the Netanyahu government, but made no public reference to the fate of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. However, her entourage asserted that the issue of civilians and respect for international law had been discussed directly with Benjamin Netanyahu.
At the European Council, French President Emmanuel Macron and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar repeated their thinly veiled criticism of the commission president's stance. One European official lamented, "For the past two years, we've been trying to convince the countries of the South that international law must prevail, particularly in Ukraine, and now we're losing them because of statements like these." Another Brussels source added, "We need to avoid any double standard." The EU-27 and its leaders vowed to coordinate better in the future and to speak with one voice.
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