GENEVA
Former Irish President Mary Robinson said she feels "ashamed" of the EU's response to Israel's war in Gaza, criticizing the bloc for failing to suspend its trade agreement with Israel despite calls to do so.
"I feel a bit ashamed as an EU citizen that the EU that speaks about human rights, that talks the talk cannot bring itself," she told RTE’s The Late Late Show late Friday. "It is quite disturbing at this stage."
Robinson noted that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had said the deal should be suspended, but added: "We still haven't got there."
She accused other countries of being "complicit and not doing enough" while a "deliberate famine" is taking place in Gaza. Calling the situation "a failure of political will," she pointed to the influence of US President Donald Trump and urged the use of "all levers" to halt the conflict.
"The real levers are to stop the armaments completely. And, of course, the United States would be the big country that could do that. But some European countries should also stop the armaments and also the trade," she said.
Robinson described Israel's leadership as "an extremist government led by a bad prime minister," saying Benjamin Netanyahu "doesn’t want to make peace."
Reflecting on famine and humanitarian solidarity, she called for renewed global commitment to protecting the most vulnerable.