The European Union and Israel held the thirteenth meeting of their Association Council on 24 February 2025 in Brussels.
The parties engaged in a political dialogue, focusing on the conflict in Gaza, Israeli-Palestinian relations, regional issues including Iran, and global matters.
The discussion also covered EU-Israel bilateral relations.
The Association Council was chaired by Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and by Gideon Sa’ar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, in the presence of Dubravka Šuica, Commissioner for the Mediterranean, and representatives of EU member states.
In a position paper published ahead of the Association Council, the EU expressed its “determination to fight antisemitism in all its forms and manifestations, and to promote non-discrimination in the EU and around the world. The EU condemns antisemitism in the strongest terms; it is incompatible with the EU’s values and goals. It represents a threat to Jewish people and Jewish life, as well as to open and diverse societies and the very fabric of the European way of life. The EU deplores the dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents and hate crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions, leading to an exceptionally high level of antisemitism across the EU following the attacks of 7 October 2023 and the conflict that ensued in Gaza.”
The EU also highlighted its “determination to fight antisemitism online, particularly antisemitic hate speech, conspiracy myths, Holocaust denial, and distortion,” and emphasized that “the work of the European Commission Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life further underscores the priority of combating antisemitism in the EU,” among other commitments.
