The European Union Policy towards the Palestinian Question in the Post-Oslo Era

The absence of a unified foreign policy approach among European Union ( EU ) member states, combined with their distinct interests and own experiences, has shaped the EU ’s actions concerning the Palestinian question in the post-Oslo period. The EU ’s evolving identity as a liberal peacebuilder and defender of international order has been contested by the politics, interests, and values of its expanding membership. This has also contributed to the EU ’s continued hesitance to enforce its policies, resulting in non-normative outcomes and is evident in the EU ’s inaction regarding breaches of international humanitarian law ( IHL ) before and after October 7, 2023. Despite accelerating jurisprudential and diplomatic pressures from October 2023 to the present, the EU has struggled to translate legal obligations into restrictive measures towards Israel. Using a legal-institutional analysis of the EU –Israel Association Agreement, the ICJ ’s provisional measures and advisory opinion, ICC arrest warrants, and CJEU “differentiation” case-law, combined with process-tracing of the EU Council’s decisions and member-state practice, the article shows how the Common Foreign and Security Policy ( CFSP ) unanimity rule, internal norm contestation, and external dependency on US strategy shape EU outcomes

European union · Foreign policy · Identity (music · International law · Member states · Norm (philosophy · Order (exchange · Unanimity · Belt and Road Initiative · European Union Policy and Governance · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies