While Ben Gvir's comments sparked global outrage, the European Union is still yet to decide on any sanctions, notably blocked by Germany. The issue is likely to be debated at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in early September.
Luxembourg international law expert Michel Erpelding (*) told RTL that Israeli government members are consistently breaking fundamental rules of international law. Not just Ben Gvir, who advocated for Palestinians to be executed regardless of whether they posed an immediate threat, but also other ministers such as Smotrich and the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself. Legally speaking, ministers speak for their entire government if they are not disavowed by it. Erpelding says sanctions against individual government members – which do not even exist yet – would not be enough.
"Whatever consequences the criminal Israeli state policy has in the occupied territories – Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem – are commercial measures", said the international rights lawyer. For example, he believes the European trade agreement should be repealed, the supply of weapons and the financing of activities in the occupied territories should be stopped "and all forms of trade should be banned." According to Erpelding, the current Trump administration will be the "last US administration that is so pro-Israeli."
Luxembourg's foreign minister, Xavier Bettel, regularly criticises the policies of the Israeli government, but in the same breath also warns against punishing all Israelis. Erpelding welcomes the fact that Bettel has become "less ambiguous" on the topic, but calls upon the minister to "be more consistent". Luxembourg has the means to act on its own, based on scientific and legal analysis, he says. If the EU refuses to act, even if Bettel pushes for sanctions, then Luxembourg could take national measures.
Erpelding says that being the descendants of Europe's largest genocide does not give anyone the right to do what they want and commit genocidal acts, or promote genocidal discourse. The far-right Israeli government is maintaining a discriminatory discourse that mirrors that promoted by the Nazi party in the 1930s, and at the same time, they are using history to justify their inhumane policies. Israel's reaction to the Hamas terror attacks on 7 October 2023 was "disproportionate", argues Erpelding, as they pursued a "policy of extermination" in Gaza and "ethnic cleansing" in the West Bank. Self-defence has its limits, he says, as even the Bible calls for "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
Does this make Erpelding antisemitic? "Of course not, I'm a defender of international law," he says. He applies the same legal principles to everyone. "It doesn't matter who you are, what your religion is, your family history. I look at what you do."
(*) Michel Erpelding is a Research Group Leader at Germany's Max-Planck-Institut. He was a candidate for The Left at the 2023 parliamentary elections, but says he is no longer an active member.
