Brussels [Belgium], November 29: The EU's outgoing top diplomat on Thursday said Israeli society has been "colonized from inside" by violent extremists as experts gathered in Brussels for a conference advocating a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Josep Borrell, whose five-year term is ending in the coming days, said in Brussels that "the colonization of the mind of the people is the most dangerous thing that Israeli society is facing because it is undermining the foundations of their democracy."
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Borrell said that a "different Israel" has emerged "after what has happened in Gaza and what has happened in the West Bank."
Borrell highlighted recent arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant.
He described the Middle East conflict as a "cancer" that will metastasize and affect international relations and European societies from within if peace cannot be achieved.
Borrell has repeatedly criticized Israel for its handling of the war in Gaza, which emerged in response to the October 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian group Hamas.
Source: Qatar Tribune