Europe Needs a Real Policy on Israel-Palestine

Europe has spent decades funding Middle East peace efforts while leaving Washington to lead the diplomacy. But a new Foreign Policy argument by Sven Koopmans and Grace Wermenbol says that model is becoming harder to defend, and Europe now has an opportunity to become a political player rather than simply a payer.

Europe Has Paid, but Rarely Led

One example captures the problem. European countries helped finance Gaza International Airport, contributing much of its $86 million cost when it opened in 1998. Israeli forces later destroyed the airport during the Second Intifada.

The authors argue that this became symbolic of Europe’s wider role: spending heavily on Palestinian development and peace initiatives while having limited influence over the political outcome.

Even when the EU, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Arab League launched a peace initiative involving around 60 countries in 2023, Washington remained the dominant outside power in the conflict.

US Opinion on Israel Is Changing

The political environment in the US is also shifting.

A Pew Research survey published in April found that 60% of Americans held an unfavorable view of Israel, up 7 percentage points in a year and nearly 20 points since 2022.

The shift is especially strong among younger voters:

57% of Republicans under 50 viewed Israel unfavorably
84% of younger Democrats held an unfavorable view

Foreign Policy argues that these changes have not yet produced a major shift in US policy, but they could create more room for a different approach in the future.

Europe Is Already Moving Further

Some European governments are becoming more willing to pressure Israel.

At least seven European countries have introduced full or partial restrictions on military exports to Israel, while Germany announced a temporary partial arms embargo in 2025.

The EU has also reviewed whether Israel is meeting the human-rights requirements of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, although Germany and Italy blocked efforts to suspend the agreement.

More recently, France, the UK and Canada moved to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, while France said it was coordinating with another group of countries taking similar action.

A More Independent European Policy

Koopmans and Wermenbol propose what they call “constructive conditionality.”

The idea is that Europe would continue supporting Israel’s legitimate security needs, while making deeper cooperation dependent on respect for international law and Palestinian rights.

That could mean using trade access, diplomatic ties, development funding and other forms of cooperation as leverage rather than offering them automatically.

The biggest obstacle remains Europe itself. EU countries are deeply divided, with countries such as Ireland generally pushing for stronger support for Palestinian statehood while Germany has traditionally taken a much more pro-Israel position.

Why it matters: Europe is Israel’s largest trading partner and already spends heavily in the region, but its political influence has often lagged behind its economic weight. If US policy becomes less predictable and American public opinion continues shifting, Europe may have a rare opportunity to turn that economic influence into a more independent diplomatic role.