Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the degree to which human rights are respected in Israel.

The EU-Israel Association Agreement provides a useful structure in which to discuss the EU’s human rights concerns, and to work with Israel to address these. It is important that these discussions take place.The EU regularly discusses its concerns with Israel in meetings at all levels, including regular political level meetings and through an informal human rights working group. In addition to this, human rights concerns are regularly raised through the work of the local EU delegation in Israel.