A leaked diplomatic cable shows the EU’s top antisemitism official lobbying to shield Israel from sanctions — using dubious claims to conflate criticism of Israeli policy with antisemitism.
Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission’s “coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life”, told EU ambassadors in Tel Aviv on 29 May that reviewing the EU–Israel trade agreement risked being based on “rumours about Jews”. She also repeated unverified claims that “news on Israel providing food in Gaza” was ignored by the UN and media.
She also claimed the UN and media ignored “news on Israel providing food in Gaza” and warned that activities such as “bake sales for Gaza” could fuel “ambient antisemitism”.
Her remarks — made as EU ministers debated unprecedented trade sanctions over Israel’s killing of more than 57,000 people in Gaza — directly contradicted findings by the UN human rights office, the International Court of Justice, and the EU’s own foreign service. Critics say she blurred the line between prejudice against Jews and criticism of Israeli government policy, effectively adopting Israel’s own talking points.
Some ambassadors pushed back, warning her against conflating political criticism with antisemitism. One told her bluntly: “The Israeli side dismisses every accusation on attacks on hospitals as ‘blood libels’ … but these are facts, and bringing them up is not antisemitic.”
Von Schnurbein also repeated conspiracy theories linking Hamas to European protests and warned that “losing Israel would be a loss for Europe”. Amnesty International called her account “not factual … inaccurate, untruthful” and accused her of undermining international law. Israeli historian Amos Goldberg said she ignored Gaza’s mass civilian death toll and used “a clearly totalitarian term” to smear acts of solidarity. “She’s hostile to any sign of solidarity with the Palestinians, calling it ‘ambient antisemitism’ – a clearly totalitarian term,” Goldberg said.
Source: euobserver
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