Amnesty International has called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take concrete action against Israel, beginning with a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements, as she delivers her annual State of the European Union address.
In September 2025, von der Leyen proposed suspending parts of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, sanctioning extremist Israeli ministers and violent settlers, and suspending some bilateral support to Israel. One year later, Amnesty says that almost none of these measures have been adopted, though the Commission had concluded that Israel was breaching the human-rights clause of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Amnesty now urges the EU to follow through on those commitments and join the growing number of countries moving to restrict trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. Earlier this month, the UK, France, Spain, Ireland, Sweden and several other European countries announced plans for settlement-trade restrictions or further measures.
Amnesty argues that the EU's failure to act has undermined the credibility of its previous commitments, while allowing trade with settlements to continue. It is calling on von der Leyen to use her speech in this year's address to announce concrete measures rather than repeat previous promises.
