The European Commission will examine the petition on the EU-Israel agreement and hold a public hearing

The European Commission will discuss the petition concerning relations between the European Union and Israel with its organizers in the coming weeks, after the initiative surpassed the threshold of one million signatures. Subsequently, the European Parliament will hold a public hearing on the issue, the EU executive announced Thursday.

The petition will be examined amid growing criticism of Israel stemming from the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. The number of signatures indicates the importance of the issue among European citizens, but the review does not guarantee changes to current policy or existing agreements.

The initiative concerns EU-Israel relations and the association agreement signed in 1995 and which entered into force in 2000. The document regulates political dialogue and trade relations between the two sides. The European Union is Israel’s largest trading partner, accounting for approximately one-third of its trade in goods with the rest of the world in 2025.

Of the 136 registered European citizens’ initiatives, only 14 have collected at least one million signatures. Reaching the threshold allows for an official presentation to the Commission, but does not oblige the institution to accept the requests. Earlier this year, the EU executive rejected another petition, concerning abortion funding, even though it had been signed by 1.2 million people.