At his goodbye party in November, the EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, made a diplomatic gesture that received little attention at the time but meant a lot to Palestinians.
Mr Borrell received copies of the mission letters of the new Palestinian ambassador, Amal Jadou, in a symbolic gesture of support for the Palestinian diplomatic profile at the heart of Europe.
That was a change in protocol and in keeping with Mr Borrell's public frustration over the EU's passive position on the Israel-Gaza war. Palestinian ambassadors did not usually hand over their letters to such high-ranking EU officials.
Palestine is recognised as a fully-fledged state by a minority of the EU's 27 countries. But the gesture paved the way six months later for Ms Jadou to become the first Palestinian ambassador in Brussels to present her credentials to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.
The event, which included 10 other ambassadors from countries ranging from Egypt to Colombia, took place on May 20 − the same day that the bloc announced it would launch a review of its relations with Israel. Backed by 17 countries out of 27, it was an important move triggered by the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“We see the shift,” an Arab diplomatic source told The National. “It's too late. It's too little. But we are happy something is happening.”
"This is a major change in EU dynamics on the Gaza crisis," said Martin Konecny, director of the European Middle East Project think tank in Brussels. "Even countries with right-wing governments that have backed Israel so far are now becoming ready to put EU pressure on their ally."
Diplomatic boost
Letters of credence are a diplomatic tradition that signal the start of formal relations between an envoy and the leadership of the country they work in. It “highlights the importance of international dialogue and the EU’s commitment to fostering co-operation with countries around the world,” according to the European Council.
The Palestinian mission described its participation in the ceremony as representing “an advanced step in consolidating diplomatic relations between the State of Palestine and the European Union”.
Palestinian ambassadors normally hand over their letters of credence to the chief of protocol of the European External Action Service, the equivalent of the EU's foreign affairs ministry, unlike normal states. Those states give them to the EU's presidents − Mr Costa and Ms von der Leyen. But Palestinians had been requesting an upgrade, which they view as reciprocity. The EU ambassador to Palestine always gives his letters of credence to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
This year, the change in protocol in Brussels was backed by Mr Costa. This mirrors practices by a number of EU countries such as Luxembourg and Belgium to upgrade their diplomatic relations with Palestinian officials.
“The current political context and the EU’s commitment to the two state solution were clearly on Mr Costa's mind," an EU diplomatic source said. "It is a symbolic gesture, but a strong political message of support toward the recognition of the State of Palestine.”
This upgrade in diplomatic relations with Palestinians comes against a backdrop of increased diplomatic isolation of Israel, 19 months into the Gaza war. Israel's ambassador to the EU, Haim Regev, on Thursday warned of a “diplomatic erosion”. “Europe is seeing horrific images and struggling to deal with them. The support we had at the beginning of the war is no longer there,” Mr Regev said, quoted by The Times of Israel.
The most recent high-level diplomatic meeting between the EU and Israel took place in February, after a three-year suspension, in a move that “highlighted a positive light on Israel-EU relations”, an Israeli diplomatic source told The National.
'Challenging times'
“We are examining the current developments following the last foreign affairs council,” they said, in a reference to the May 20 meeting when the review of relations was announced by Mr Borrell's successor, Kaja Kallas.
“We believe that despite the current challenges, the dialogue between Israel and the EU will continue to be constructive and reflective of the deep relations and shared values between both parties,” added the Israeli diplomat.
The launch of the review may lead to a proposal to partly or fully suspend the EU-Israel association agreement, which could heavily impact trade relations between the two parties. However, such a proposal, before it is submitted to a vote to the 27 EU countries, must be greenlit by Ms von der Leyen. Widely viewed as Brussels' most powerful official, Ms von der Leyen, a former German minister, is known to be against a review.
In another important diplomatic move that may affect the EU's work on the Israel-Palestine conflict, on May 20 it announced the appointment of former French ambassador to Israel Christophe Bigot as special envoy for Middle East Peace Process. He replaces Dutch lawyer Sven Koopmans. The EU's long-standing policy is to support the establishment of a Palestinian state, but recognition is off the table for a number of states, including Germany and Italy.
Mr Bigot, who will take up his duties on June 2, recently served as director of the Africa and Indian Ocean department at the French Foreign Affairs Ministry and director of strategy for France's external intelligence agency, the DGSE.
In the 1990s, his first posting abroad was in Beirut, and he later worked as adviser to socialist foreign affairs minister Bernard Kouchner. “France supported his nomination as we always do when French diplomats are nominated in multilateral institutions,” French diplomatic sources said.
Mr Bigot is scheduled to travel to Israel and Palestine in late June as part of his role focusing on a two-state solution, as France is preparing to co-host a major conference in New York with Saudi Arabia.
France's intention to recognise Palestinian statehood has been heavily criticised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Relations between Europe and Israel further soured this week after the murder of two Israeli embassy officials in Washington, which Israeli leaders have blamed on the support for Palestinian statehood by some Europeans.
