Most EU countries back ‘full ban’ on Israeli settler imports — but unanimity fight looms

The EU is moving ahead with a “full ban” on Israeli settler imports, after most foreign ministers backed the move and lawyers gave the green light.

“The option that got the most support was banning trade with illegal settlements,” said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas in Brussels on Monday (13 July) after talks with the 27 EU states’ top diplomats.

The popular option was a “full ban”, she reiterated.

“We tasked the [27 EU] ambassadors [in the EU Council] to take this forward and we [foreign ministers] will probably have an extraordinary meeting on this,” she added.

However, the next regular foreign ministers’ meeting is not due until 12 October.

France and Sweden have spearheaded the push for a settler ban, backed by Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain.

But Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic have voiced reservations and quibbled on whether settler trade could be stopped by a qualified majority (QMV) vote or only by consensus, creating veto opportunities.

And, for her part, Kallas also sought to put that question to bed.

"The European Council has a legal opinion that trade issues are QMV decisions," she said on Monday.

"It's always the case that you can find different lawyers, who come up with different ideas. So, two lawyers, three opinions," said Kallas.

Legal certainty

But when it came to the EU's in–house team, there was only one assessment.

"There is a legal opinion we can do this … with QMV, the Council legal services said that, and, of course, if there is [political] will [among member states], we can move forward," said Kallas.

An EU–level anti–settler move would not be "against Israel", she added, but was meant to fix failures in member states' existing customs obligations, which were being "inconsistently implemented", she added.

Settler exports to the EU were worth €150m to €250m a year, according to media estimates, but the European Commission did not have a real figure, because capitals do not report the right data.

And despite its symbolic size, an export ban would strike a financial blow against some 45 individual Israeli settler firms, mostly in the food and wine sector, as well as a blow against the Israeli culture of impunity.

Israeli forces killed a 16–year–old Palestinian minor in the West Bank on 5 July, on top of 15 other Palestinian children killed by soldiers and settlers in the region in 2026, the UN said in its last report, on 11 July.

An average of six settler attacks a day was also injuring hundreds of people, including 187 children in 2026 so far, the UN said.

After months of deadlock, the EU blacklisted settler extremist groups close to the Israeli government and a settler celebrity, Daniella Weiss, in May to chill Israeli aggression.

The EU Commission has also frozen €14m of bilateral cultural projects with Israel since 7 October 2023, when the current Gaza war began.

But the EU still had normal relations with the Israeli government under a 26-year-old bilateral "association agreement", even though Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, has personally mauled Kallas, while Israel's finance and security ministers wanted to annex the West Bank and have passed a law for capital punishment for Arabs only.

Overall EU–Israeli trade was worth €43.3bn in 2025, compared to the settlers' less than €250m of exports and the €14m cultural freeze.

And Israel remains eligible for billions in EU grants under the 'Horizon' science R&D programme.

But Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain want to go further by stopping all EU–Israel "association agreement" trade perks on human rights grounds, in a move that could cost Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's economy €1bn a year.

The EU pressure comes amid high tension inside Israel, which is fighting in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria.

And Netanyahu is preparing to also fight elections on 27 October, auguring political volatility in Jerusalem on top of Israel's wars.