A European Union proposal to suspend Israel from a research funding program for startups failed to garner the necessary support for passage Tuesday after Germany and Italy balked.
The proposal, announced Monday, would partially suspend Israel’s participation in the bloc’s flagship Horizon research funding program. It came in response to calls from EU countries to push Israel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and is one of several avenues European countries are pursuing to pressure Israel in the face of reports of starvation in the enclave.
Multiple EU countries said last week that Israel was not living up to its commitments under an agreement with the European Union on increasing aid supplies to Gaza. They asked the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, to put concrete options on the table.
“While Israel has announced a daily humanitarian pause in Gaza fighting and has met some of its commitments under the common understanding on humanitarian aid and access, the situation remains severe,” the European Commission said in a statement announcing the proposal.
The proposal would remove Israel from the Accelerator of the European Innovation Council, a pool of funding targeted at startups involved in fields including drone technology, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
But the proposal fell short of a majority in an EU meeting, reportedly after Germany and Italy asked for more time to examine it. To pass, the proposal would need approval from a qualified majority of EU countries to take effect – at least 15 of the EU’s 27 members, representing at least 65 percent of its population.
Countries also reportedly asked for time to see if the humanitarian situation in Gaza would improve. In recent days, in response to heavy international pressure over reports of widespread severe malnutrition in the enclave, Israel announced a series of measures to increase the flow of aid.
In a statement ahead of the meeting, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the proposal “mistaken, regrettable, and unjustified.”
“At a time when Israel is fighting Hamas’s jihadist terrorism, any such decision only serves to strengthen Hamas and therefore undermines the chances of reaching a ceasefire and a framework for the release of hostages,” the statement said.
The proposal was not put to a formal vote on Tuesday, but had the support of the Netherlands, Ireland, France, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Portugal, Malta and Spain, according to EuroNews. Hungary, Bulgaria and Czechia opposed the proposal.
Germany and Hungary have been among Israel’s closest allies in Europe during its war against Hamas in Gaza, while a growing number of other European countries have taken a range of actions to signal their opposition to Israeli conduct in Gaza as well as the West Bank.
France announced last week that it would recognize a Palestinian state in September, and the United Kingdom, which is not an EU member, said it would follow suit unless there is a ceasefire in the Gaza war. Several other European countries have recognized a Palestinian state since the outbreak of the war triggered by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted on X that such a step “constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages.”
Earlier this week, the Netherlands banned far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from entering the country, part of a raft of measures to pressure Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Lazar Berman, Nava Freiberg and agencies contributed to this report.