According to the agency, the head of the EC Ursula von der Leyen in protocol and content went against the European Council, stating the full support of the European Union to the Israeli side.
A row has broken out between the head of the European Union Council Charles Michel and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen over abuse of office and von der Leyen’s personal statements on foreign policy issues, Bloomberg news agency reported, citing diplomatic sources.
“It (the rift) became evident in the United States, where the two leaders held separate meetings with Biden. <…> And the feud followed them home, where the EC chief is holding a big international summit this week, to which von der Leyen did not invite her counterpart, according to spokesman Charles Michel,” the piece said.
The conflict, which many diplomats called a “shameful split”, emerged against the backdrop of von der Leyen’s statements about full support for Israel in the war against Hamas, but at that time European countries had already agreed on a joint position on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the author of the article noted.
“Von der Leyen’s actions caused her to disagree with her colleagues on protocol and substance: many member states privately accused her of failing to properly mention the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, to which the Council should pay more attention,” the publication noted.
A new round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began after Israel was hit by an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on the morning of 7 October. After the massive shelling, Hamas fighters infiltrated the border areas in the south of the Jewish state. The military wing of the movement – “Al-Qassam Brigades” – announced the operation “Flood of Al-Aqsa”.
Recall, the Chief of General Staff of the Israeli army, Lieutenant General Herzi Ha-Levi earlier admitted that the Israeli military on 7 October failed to cope with the task on the day of the attack of the Palestinian group Hamas, that is – to ensure the security of the country.
On 13 October, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the CIS summit in Bishkek that the Russian Federation is ready to act as a mediator in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. He stressed that today it was necessary to look for ways of exclusively peaceful resolution of the conflict.