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BRUSSELS: The European Commission will propose sanctioning extremist Israeli ministers and a partial suspension of the European Union’s association agreement with Israel, targeting trade-related matters, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
In a State of the Union speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, von der Leyen also said that the Commission will put its bilateral support for Israel on hold, without affecting work with Israeli civil society and Yad Vashem, Israel’s main Holocaust memorial center.
The Commission had previously proposed curbing Israeli access to its flagship research funding program but failed to garner sufficient support from EU member countries for the move.
Von der Leyen said the Commission would now do what it can on its own.
The Commission chief said the body will set up a Palestine Donor Group next month, including an instrument for Gaza reconstruction.