ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU) is undertaking a prolonged, slow-burning revision of its relations with Israel, driven by the need to avoid recognition of an illegal situation. This article reviews these ongoing developments from the perspective of international law. As compared with the EU’s response to the annexation of Crimea by imposing sanctions on Russia, its measures vis-à-vis Israel aim at protecting the EU internal legal and political order from the illegal situation created by Israel’s institutional practice with regards to the Palestinian territory. The EU’s approach to non-recognition is a rule-based cornerstone of its external relations law and foreign policy, and provides insights on the otherwise opaque workings of this obligation in international law and the transnational legal enforcement process in which it manifests.
