As Israel’s slaughter in Gaza grinds on—now in its twentieth month, with over 45,000 dead, most of them women and children, and nearly every hospital, school, and home reduced to rubble—one might expect Europe, that self-proclaimed bastion of human rights, to muster more than a few limp statements of concern.
Instead, the European Union has perfected the art of hand-wringing paralysis, offering little more than performative sympathy while continuing to arm, fund, and politically shield Israel. It is a masterclass in moral evasion, dressed up as diplomacy.
Examining the roots of Europe’s complicity: the hypocrisy of its selective outrage, the economic and geopolitical interests that outweigh Palestinian lives, the arms trade that fuels the killing, the political cowardice masquerading as neutrality, and what, if anything, might finally force a change.
The EU’s selective outrage: A study in double standards
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Europe moved with remarkable speed. Sanctions were imposed within days, military aid flowed freely, and Ursula von der Leyen solemnly declared that Europe stood united against aggression. The International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin was welcomed as a triumph of justice.
Contrast this with Gaza. South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide, was met with indifference or outright hostility from European capitals. Germany, ever eager to weaponise its own history when convenient, dismissed the case outright, while Hungary’s foreign minister sneered that the very idea was “nonsense.” The EU, which so loves to lecture the world on human rights, could not even bring itself to endorse an investigation.
The message is clear: some victims merit solidarity, others do not. Ukrainian lives are worth defending; Palestinian lives are, at best, an inconvenience.
Money talks, Palestinian lives apparently do not
Behind Europe’s inaction lies a tangle of economic and strategic interests. The EU treats Israel not as a rogue state committing atrocities, but as a favoured trading partner. Since October 2023, Brussels has funnelled €126 million into Israeli research projects, some of which directly benefit arms firms. German and French defence giants—Rheinmetall, ThyssenKrupp, Leonardo—continue to profit from contracts that supply the very weapons flattening Gaza.
Then there is energy. Israel’s offshore gas fields have become a convenient alternative to Russian supplies, and European governments are keen to keep the taps flowing. Add to this the shared obsession with “migration control” and anti-Iran posturing, and the calculus becomes depressingly clear: Palestinian lives are expendable if the price of saving them is disrupting trade or annoying Washington.
The arms trade: Europe’s bloody profits
While European leaders issue empty pleas for restraint, their arms industries are cashing in. Germany, the continent’s most enthusiastic enabler, increased weapons exports to Israel tenfold in 2023. British firm BAE Systems and Germany’s Rheinmetall supply artillery shells and tank components used in Gaza. Dutch, Italian, and Spanish companies provide parts for F-35 jets—the same ones currently dropping bombs on refugee camps.
Even more grotesque is the use of public money. The EU has handed out €426 million in subsidies to arms firms that supply Israel, while Rheinmetall—a company making millions from tank shells used in Gaza—pocketed €169 million in state support. One might call this a perverse form of humanitarian aid, if the aid in question were not facilitating mass slaughter.
International law is unambiguous: the Genocide Convention obliges states to act to prevent genocide. Europe’s response? A shrug, followed by another arms shipment.
Political cowardice dressed as prudence
Why does Europe hesitate? Partly fear of domestic backlash. Pro-Israel lobbies wield disproportionate influence, particularly in Germany, where any criticism of Israel is reflexively equated with antisemitism. The far-right—from France’s Le Pen to Italy’s Meloni—cheers on Israel not out of principle, but because it fits their anti-Muslim world-view.
Then there is the fiction of “balance.” European officials insist they are “engaging with both sides,” as if supplying one side with weapons and vetoing sanctions against it constitutes even-handedness. They fret about “alienating Israel” but show no such concern for the millions of Palestinians being starved and bombed. It is not diplomacy; it is complicity with a veneer of respectability.
What must be done—And why it won’t happen
The path to ending Europe’s complicity is straightforward, if politically inconvenient. An immediate arms embargo. Sanctions on Israeli officials, of the kind imposed on Russia. Full support for the ICC’s investigation. The restoration of funding to UNRWA, the only lifeline for Gaza’s starving population. An end to trade with illegal settlements.
Will any of this happen? Not without immense public pressure. European leaders have shown they will only act when the cost of inaction exceeds the cost of action. For now, the calculation remains in Israel’s favour.
History will judge this moment. It will note the governments that looked away, the corporations that profited, the lies told to justify the unjustifiable. And it will ask: when the evidence of genocide was plain, why did Europe do so little? The answer, as ever, is a mix of greed, cowardice, and the quiet conviction that some lives matter less than others.
Palestinians, it seems, are among the less fortunate.