EU will examine Israel association agreement after massive public petition

The European Commission will examine its association agreement with Israel after more than 1.1 million EU citizens signed a petition asking it to do so.

“The Commission will meet the organisers [of the petition] to discuss the initiative in detail in the coming weeks. A public hearing will then be organised by the European Parliament,” the EU executive said in a press release Thursday.

While the examination is unlikely to lead to any substantial changes to the status quo, the number of signatures shows the prominence of the issue of EU-Israel relations among the EU public — and will force the Commission to give an official response.

Out of 136 registered petitions — known as the EU Citizens’ Initiative — in more than a decade, only 14 had reached the 1 million-signature threshold required to be officially brought in front of the EU executive.

The ECI mechanism requires the Commission to examine petitions signed by more than 1 million EU citizens from more than seven countries. Earlier this year, the Commission rejected a petition to expand abortion financing after it was signed by 1.2 million citizens.

The European Left Alliance, an umbrella group for 11 left-wing political parties, started the petition almost two years ago. The group said the EU should suspend its trade and political dialogue with Israel over what it sees as the country’s failure to prevent genocide in Gaza.

France accounted for the most signatures with 339,479, followed by Italy with 283,863 and Spain with 151,821. The Commission will reply by May 2027 to say whether it plans to take any action in response to the petition.

Originally signed in 1995 and coming into force in 2000, the association agreement covers political dialogue and trade between the EU and Israel. The bloc is Israel’s biggest trading partner, accounting for about a third of its total trade in goods with the world in 2025, according to EU data.

The wars in Gaza and Lebanon have provoked vehement criticism of Israel and divided European leaders.