The European Union has announced it is reviewing core elements of its longstanding cooperation agreement with the State of Israel. This review follows a campaign by anti-Israel civil society groups and political factions who routinely accuse Israel of “abuses” during military operations in Gaza—allegations that overwhelmingly ignore the reality of Israel’s existential battle against Hamas and the entire Iranian terror alliance entrenched in the region.
The EU’s decision, publicized by its High Representative for Foreign Affairs, appears to give credence to an anti-Israel narrative fueled by organizations with a history of bias against the Jewish state. This comes after Israel was compelled to act in defense of its citizens following the October 7, 2023 massacre—the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. On that day, Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s borders, slaughtered 1,163 civilians in unspeakable atrocities, and dragged over 250 people—including women, children, and the elderly—into captivity. Israel’s defensive war in Gaza is not a “cycle of violence,” but a necessary campaign to dismantle the infrastructure of terror threatening the entire region.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement, signed in 1995 and enacted in 2000, has underpinned diplomatic, trade, security, and research ties for a generation. Built on shared democratic values, the agreement has delivered tangible benefits to both sides—especially in counterterrorism, intelligence, and cyber defense. Yet, the current review starkly reveals a willingness among some in Europe to jeopardize their own security interests in pursuit of political expediency.
The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, has made clear that any dilution of EU-Israel cooperation endangers not just Israelis, but civilians across Europe—especially as jihadist networks linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are increasingly active on European soil. Israeli and Western intelligence have conclusively shown that Hamas, backed by Tehran, subverts basic norms of warfare by embedding fighters, weapons, and command centers under hospitals, schools, and civilian neighborhoods. Israel, in turn, has implemented robust protocols to warn civilians and enable humanitarian relief, despite these efforts being cynically exploited and misrepresented by hostile actors and much of the Western media.
Current debates in Brussels are less a matter of law or genuine humanitarian concern and more a product of relentless pressure from vocal lobbies sympathetic either to the Palestinian cause or overtly hostile to Israel’s right to exist. This pressure is amplified by activist NGOs whose reports repeatedly ignore, minimize, or outright deny Israel’s security dilemma: facing the world’s most advanced terror network, directly armed and directed by Iran. For all its stated commitment to the rule of law and democratic norms, the EU is today risking complicity in efforts that would weaken both its values and its security by acquiescing to demands that would only embolden Iran and its proxies.
The reality on the ground is stark. Hamas’s deeply entrenched infrastructure makes it impossible for Israel to conduct operations without risk to civilians—a tactical position for which Hamas and its sponsors bear sole and exclusive responsibility under international humanitarian law. Protests across Europe—often marked by antisemitic rhetoric—have heightened pressure on EU leaders, but they do not alter the facts: Hamas initiated this conflict, and it is Hamas, backed by Iran, that holds Israeli civilians hostage as part of a deliberate strategy to subvert peace and democracy in the Middle East.
Intelligence reports from Israeli and Western sources repeatedly show that a vast axis of terror—Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iranian-led militias in Syria and Iraq—are working in concert to destabilize Israel and Western interests. The EU, instead of punishing Israel for defending itself, should be redoubling support for those on the front lines of the fight against Tehran’s terror empire. Weakening ties now risks emboldening actors who threaten civilians from Tel Aviv to Paris and beyond.
The ongoing plight of more than 130 hostages still held by Hamas remains a moral indictment of the terror group and a grave humanitarian crisis deliberately perpetuated by its leadership. As Israel continues to pursue every avenue for their release, it is critical that European policymakers draw a clear line between democratic nations defending life and freedom, and terror organizations animated by genocidal ideology.
Should the EU move to weaken or suspend the Association Agreement, the consequences would reverberate far beyond the region: undermining decades of counterterrorism cooperation, intelligence sharing, and cyber defense that protect both Israeli and European citizens. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and bipartisan American leaders have warned that such short-sighted policies directly aid those who seek to destabilize the West.
Ultimately, at stake is the very principle of collective self-defense against an expansionist threat orchestrated by Iran. The war triggered by the October 7th massacre has forced Western democracies to confront uncomfortable truths about the limits of appeasement and the vital necessity of standing with Israel at a time of unprecedented peril. For Europe, the choice is clear: support a fellow democracy under fire from Iran’s terror proxies, or embolden a regime committed to the destruction of Israel and the undermining of the Western order.
As Israel stands at the front line of the global fight against terrorism, its allies in Europe would do well to remember what is truly at stake—not just for Israelis, but for the entire free world.
