Borrell: “Franco’s Spain is not the same as Felipe’s, nor Netanyahu’s Israel is the same as Shimon Peres'”

24 hours before leaving his position as vice president and high representative of the EU, Josep Borrell acknowledges that what worries him most is the situation in Gaza. And on the verge of leaving the office, he admits that he can be “frank”, although he warns that he will be “more so” when he is outside. Even so, he has taken advantage of his last public event to criticize the position that the community club has had on foreign policy and has even questioned whether support for Ukraine will be maintained if Donald Trump withdraws US aid. But, above all, he has taken the opportunity to maintain the warnings about the danger posed by the far-right Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.

“Franco’s Spain is not the same as Felipe’s, nor Netanyahu’s Israel is the same as Shimon Peres’s,” Borrell said in his last public event at a colloquium organized by the Institute for Geopolitics in Brussels. It is a message similar to the one he sent two weeks ago in the European Parliament, but he used the simile of the dictator to refer to Donald Trump’s victory. What Borrell intends is to differentiate the governments of countries and societies.

In the case of the Israeli, Borrell maintains that it is “colonized from within by extremism and violent people,” as he said before participating in the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the two States: “The colonization of the mind of the people is the most dangerous thing facing Israeli society, because it is undermining the foundations of its democracy.”

He has also taken the opportunity to criticize the EU’s equidistance with Netanyahu: “Stop saying that international law must be respected, say whether it is being respected or not.” Borrell’s last attempt was for the Foreign Ministers to respond to that question through a report in which he presented all the violations of human rights and international legality perpetrated by Israel on the Palestinian population. And, in conclusion, he proposed taking action. As? Suspending the political dialogue with that country, a decision that in practice would be basically symbolic. Even so, he did not obtain the support of the ministers to carry it out.

Denying that Israel is failing to comply with its obligations regarding international legality, in his opinion, is reducing the EU’s “credibility.” A few hours earlier he had raised his tone against Netanyahu, against whom he recalled an international arrest warrant.

No answer on aid to Ukraine

“Stop hiding behind anti-Semitism. It has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. It is about seeking justice on the world stage. And until the last minute of my mandate, I will repeat the same thing: it is in Europe’s honor to fully and respectfully implement the decision of the International Criminal Court. If not, the future will not be very good for justice,” he expressed.

“How is it possible that we do not see that Netanyahu’s government is trampling on international humanitarian law, that it is systematically violating international humanitarian law?” he asked. Borrell has been one of the most critical voices towards Israel for the massacre in Gaza, an issue that his successor, the liberal Kaja Kallas, leaves in the background.

But he has not only charged with the EU’s position regarding Netanyahu. In a colloquium organized by the Institute for Geopolitics in Brussels, he also questioned whether the 27 are reversing some of their policies, such as the proposal to fight deforestation.

And it has also left black and white the concern that Ukraine has that aid to confront Russia’s attack will be stopped. “I don’t think anyone has the answer,” he said regarding the Ukrainians’ question of how much they will be supported.