‘Our credibility is at stake’: Spain urges EU to break Israel ties at foreign ministers meeting

Spain on Tuesday warned that the EU risks losing credibility if it fails to take stronger action against Israel, ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

“Our credibility is at stake,” Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said, urging the bloc to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel over alleged violations of international law.

Spain, Ireland and Slovenia have pushed for the bloc to once again debate the EU’s Association Agreement with Israel, which gives Israeli goods preferential access to European markets.

In May 2025, the bloc agreed to review the deal. A month later, the European Commission said it found “indications” that Israel may be breaching its human rights obligations but did not propose any measures in response.

Since then, he said, the situation has gotten “much worse.”

“In Lebanon, we are seeing indiscriminate bombing of civilians and orders forcing people to leave their homes and not return,” he said, also referring to attacks on UN peacekeepers, including the detention of a Spanish soldier serving with the UNIFIL mission.

Albares pointed to rising violence by occupiers in the West Bank and criticized what he described as discriminatory laws, including the application of the death penalty “exclusively to Palestinians.”

In Gaza, he said there have been “systematic violations” of the ceasefire, with uncertainty over progress toward a second phase.

“We must clearly tell Israel that it has to change its ways. War cannot be its only way of relating with its neighbors,” he said.

Albares questioned what more would be required for the EU to act. “What more must happen for the European Union to respond to these violations of international law and human rights?” he asked.

He added that failing to act would undermine the EU’s stance in other conflicts, including Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“We must speak with one voice in all crises,” he said.

Spain has already moved to restrict trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, in line with international legal rulings, and said it is open to further measures.

“What we cannot do is continue doing nothing while the situation worsens every day,” Albares said. “The best way to support peace is to make clear that there cannot be a normal relationship with Israel if this path continues.”