Shona Murray: European leaders lack backbone when dealing with Israel

Failing to put pressure on Israel following their continued assault on Gaza set the stage for the country's attack on Iran

Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz, right, claimed that Israel was 'doing the dirty work for all of us' when they struck Iranian nuclear facilities, essentially backing their current conflict. Picture: Omar Havana/AP

A month into the US/Israeli war in Iran, European governments are no longer ambivalent about the US/Israeli dismantling of international law, including the destruction of basic norms such as systematic bombing of hospitals, widespread expulsion of civilian population, and mass casualties.

Assessing the unpopularity among voters across the continent for the war itself, leaders are also bracing themselves for the economic shock on the cards as the Strait of Hormuz remains inaccessible.

However, the silence from most European states when it comes to condemning the war is deafening, adding to the numerous valid accusations that Europe is selective in its application of morality and the law.

Over the last few weeks, slowly, several capitals have acknowledged the actions of the US and Israel as a violation of the world order. But the damage is done.

First responders inspect the remains of a residential building hit in an overnight strike during the US-Israeli military campaign in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, northwestern Iran. Picture: Matin Hashemi/AP

Italy prime minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed she believes the war is outside international law, but refuses to condemn it.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s initial reaction — despite the news that a girl’s school in Minab had been struck within the opening hours of the war — was that he would not “lecture” his allies on matters of international law.

Less than a year earlier, Merz said Israel was doing the “dirty work for all of us” when they struck Iranian nuclear facilities, thereby giving more than tacit backing for the travesty unfolding today.

Within hours of the Saturday morning strikes four weeks ago today, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen — overstepping her mandate, which does not include foreign policy — called for a political transition in Iran, aligning herself with the objectives of Israel and the US.

Israel has long advocated for regime change and has successfully intensified this push with the second Trump administration.

Indeed, the Iranian state has seriously threatened Israel for decades, and has funded regional proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as Hamas in Gaza, to pursue their aims.

Iran has also heavily contributed to Russia’s invasion and territorial conquest of Ukraine through its supply of deadly Shahed drones.

However, there is no evidence this war will go anywhere close to eliminating the regime which has imposed so much suffering on the world, particularly its own people, where it uses execution and torture to suppress dissent. 

Even the pretence that the dignity or rights of Iranian people are anywhere in the top list of objectives of Trump or Netanyahu is nowhere to be found.

Both leaders encouraged Iranians to press ahead with protests in the face of endless brutality from the regime. So far, no prospect of a better government has emerged for those brave civilians.

'Not our war'

Merz has since dissociated Germany by saying “this is not our war”. He reminded lawmakers in the Bundestag last week that the US and Israel’s allies in Europe were not consulted ahead of it, and continue to be kept largely in the dark.

If European leaders had any backbone, they would have, in the last few years at least, tried to uphold the principles they regularly cite when discussing the exceptionalism of Europe to others. 

Europe likes to see itself as the dignified, leading light of the world order, exporting civilised laws and regulations. Where are they now when all of this is going up in flames?

Global non-governmental organisation Oxfam says Israel is operating under its military blueprint used in Gaza for Lebanon: “Israeli forces are destroying water and sanitation infrastructure including strikes near sites that were being rehabilitated.”

Due to the intensity of the attacks, where around a million people have been expelled from their homes Oxfam says it cannot “safely access these sites to assess whether they too are now destroyed or damaged or ensure they are functioning properly so that people remaining in the villages have water”, their latest report holds.

War crimes

In Gaza, the endless list of war crimes against Palestinians is too extensive and brutal to do it justice.

For years, children are having their arms and legs amputated without pain killers, women have endured caesarean sections without anaesthesia, untold numbers of babies are without any family member alive.

During the week came one of the most heinous reports: A Palestinian toddler tortured by Israeli soldiers in Gaza in a bid to extract a confession from his father.

Outlets such as Middle East Eye report Jawad Abu Nassar, aged 21 months, was detained alongside his father, Osama Abu Nassar, aged 25, in central Gaza on March 19. 

He was returned through the Red Cross 10 hours of later, showing signs of burning from cigarette buts across his legs. The images of this innocent, traumatised child are impossible to face.

A lot of this could have been prevented. There were signs that when Europe was on the verge of pressuring Israel to restrain itself slightly and at least allow food into Gaza enclave to stop the starvation, Israel was willing to talk.

But each time a proposal came to member states — to partially suspend Israel’s access to the EU’s Horizon research programme, or suspend preferential trade after the EU’s own reporting investigation showed how it to breach EU and international law —countries such as Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic all lined up to block the sanctions.

Emboldened, Israel is now on apparently using the same tactics across the region. Europe is helpless, save for now coming out to proclaim Israel’s actions illegal.

Spanish condemnation

Aside from Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez — the only leader to remain consistent in his censure.

“It is not fair that some set the world on fire while others bear the ashes. It is not right that Spaniards and other Europeans should pay out of their own pockets for this illegal war,” Sánchez told Spanish parliament Wednesday.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has stated 'it is not right that Spaniards and other Europeans should pay for this illegal war'. Picture: Manu Fernandez/AP

“We are a sovereign country that does not want to take part in illegal wars. Every bomb that falls in the Middle East ends up hitting — and we’re already seeing it — our families’ wallets.”

He added that the last thing the world needs now is another “illegal, absurd, cruel war” that serves only others’ interests.

Meanwhile, European Council president Antonio Costa told an audience at Sciences Po University in Paris on Wednesday: “EU must defend the world’s-based order amid growing global disorder.”

If only Europe has played things differently from the earlier days of Israel’s assault on Gaza after Hamas’s terrorist attack on October 7.

Under the Biden administration, the EU could have pursued a multi-lateral approach when it came to international law and Gaza. But Europe chose to look the other way, and is reaping what it sowed.