PARIS — Relations between Israel and the European Union have further deteriorated since May 20, when the European Commission's external relations service started reviewing its association agreement with Israel. A decision on suspending part of the agreement could be made within weeks, a top EU diplomat told Al-Monitor. 

"The options are secret to no one," said the diplomat. "The commission will use data published in recent weeks by United Nations agencies and by reliable NGOs over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, so the review process could be quick."

The top diplomat said Vice President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas had discussed European concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza at length with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in recent weeks. Had the Israeli government taken a serious step to address the crisis, Kallas could have presented that as reason for not advancing with the review. But, according to the top diplomat, that did not happen, and this left Kallas and the Council of Ministers little choice but to approve the review.

"The decision to look into the association agreement is in itself very serious," said Maya Sion-Tzidkiyahu, director of the Israel-Europe Relations Program at Israel's leading Mitvim think tank. "While the revision could take time, we could see informal repercussions already now. Importers, investors, universities, could choose to distance themselves from Israel, estimating that cooperating with a state under EU scrutiny is too complicated, bad for the image or simply not constructive in the long run," she told Al-Monitor.