EU agrees to sanctions on Israeli settlers after Hungary’s new government lifts veto

“EU agrees to sanctions on Israeli settlers after Hungary’s new government lifts veto Submitted by MEE staff on Tue, 05/12/2026 - 09:21 Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar broke the deadlock after his right-wing predecessor Viktor Orban had stalled the long-awaited measures Israeli settlers stand next to Israeli soldiers during a weekly settlers' tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, 9 May 2026 (Reuters/Mussa Qawasma) Off EU foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers over rising violence against Palestinians after Hungary’s new government removed a veto imposed by the country’s former right-wing prime minister. Viktor Orban, a close Israeli ally, had stalled EU plans to expand sanctions amid a surge in settler attacks across the occupied West Bank since October 2023. He was voted out of power in April, with his successor Peter Magyar moving to break the months-long deadlock. The sanctions package was approved at a meeting of member states’ foreign ministers on Monday. It includes measures targeting three Israeli settlers and four settler organisations, whose identities have not been made public. The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the sanctions target “Israeli extremist settlers and entities” as well as “leading Hamas figures”. She said it was "high time we move from deadlock to delivery... extremisms and violence carry consequences”, adding that more expansive measures, including a French-Swedish proposal for a trade embargo on illegal Israeli settlements lacked sufficient support among EU members. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot applauded the move, saying in a social media post that the EU was “sanctioning the main Israeli organisations guilty of supporting the extremist and violent colonisation of the West Bank”. “These most serious and intolerable acts must cease without delay,” he wrote on social media. Israel was quick to denounce the measures, with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar describing them as “unacceptable” and “without any basis”. Far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir pronounced them "antisemitic". “To expect the antisemitic union to make a moral decision is like expecting the sun to rise in the west. While our enemies perpetrate attacks and murder Jews, the European Union is trying to tie the hands of those who defend themselves,” he said in a post on social media. “The settlement enterprise will not be deterred. We will continue to build, to plant, to defend, and to settle throughout the entire land of Israel.” Settlement expansion across the West Bank has been turbocharged in the wake of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, supported by a slew of measures introduced by Netanyahu’s government which has approved settlements at a record rate. In April, Israeli media revealed that the cabinet secretly approved a record number of new settlements amid the war on Iran, with the government ratifying 34 new settlements in a single decision - more than half the total approved during the previous record-setting year of 2025. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are widely regarded as illegal under international law. Israel's genocide in Gaza News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

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