When President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen takes her seat at the table of the European heads of state and government in Brussels on October 26, she will undoubtedly be greeted with the utmost courtesy. The Commission president will also be perfectly affable: In this closed club of men and women who make set the course for the European Union (EU), putting on a good front is a must, even when you've taken a beating.

Von der Leyen was recently severely criticized on several occasions by the member states. She has been accused of overstepping her role by taking initiatives – some of them a misstep, as with the Israel-Hamas conflict – in foreign policy. She has also been criticized for making decisions without consulting member states, like signing the EU-Tunisia agreement on migration. There is concern over how much effort she has put into pleasing Washington when EU and US interests are not always aligned. Plus, her perpetual "squabble" with Charles Michel, the president of the Council, is seen as highly exasperating.

Since taking office at the end of 2019, von der Leyen has made repeated incursions into the realm of European foreign policy, which is the responsibility of the member states, Michel and EU High Representative Josep Borrell. "The difficulties facing the Franco-German duo have left her a space that she is exploiting," said one European diplomat.

On Ukraine, the 27 member states, who were relatively united on the subject, did not make it a casus bello. Paris and Berlin may have felt that she went too far in her promises to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open the doors of the EU to him, or to seize Russian assets in Europe. But, after all, as social democrat MEP Raphaël Glucksmann put it, "she succeeded in embodying Europe in a time of war, and that's no mean feat."

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, things are quite different: member states are deeply divided. Every statement made by EU institutions has to be meticulously prepared, something von der Leyen clearly forgot during her visit to Israel on October 13, of which she informed no one. The 27 member states were left shocked by her assertion that the Jewish state had a right to defend itself after Hamas's attack, without reminding Israel that it must respect international law and protect the civilian population of Gaza.

In failing to say this, von der Leyen did not relay the position adopted by European foreign ministers on October 10. Worse, she suggested to those who do not always grasp the subtleties of Brussels that Europe's voice is pro-Israel. She also sent a disastrous message to the Global South, countries that refuse to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Jerusalem could exempt itself from the international law to which the West wants to subject Moscow.

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