Calls have been mounting on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to step down over her expressions of support for Israel, which has been committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The European Realistic Disobedience Front or MeRA25, a left-wing Greek political party, has launched an online petition calling for von der Leyen’s immediate resignation, saying she has supported the sealing off of civilians in Gaza and the bombing of the besieged enclave under the guise of “defense” without a mandate from EU member states.
“While EU member states, the UN and other international bodies have acknowledged the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza…, President von der Leyen has explicitly expressed unilateral solidarity with Israel,” read the petition, which has so far garnered over 23,000 signatures.
“The president’s attitude towards Israel is in stark contrast to her condemnation of similar actions in the past… This is application of international law as it sees fit, which undermines the EU’s moral authority.”
It also noted that von der Leyen’s pro-Israel stance disregards international law and the democratic mandate of EU member states.
Among the signatories is Yanis Varoufakis, a Greek politician who is also Secretary General of Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25).
“Mrs. von der Leyen, incompetence we can tolerate. But cheerleading, on behalf of Europeans, war crimes: that we shall not tolerate,” Varoufakis said in a video posted on his X account.
On October 13, von der Leyen traveled to the occupied territories and met with Israeli president Isaac Herzog.
“We are friends of Israel. When friends are under attack, we stand by them,” she wrote in an X post that day.
Meanwhile, more than 840 staff members of the European Union institutions have written a letter to von der Leyen, expressing fury over her stance on Israel’s onslaught on Gaza.
They criticized the European Commission for giving “a free hand to the acceleration and the legitimacy of a war crime in the Gaza Strip.”
Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance group Hamas launched the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity.
The Tel Aviv regime has killed over 5,087 Palestinians, including 2,055 children, and injured 15,273.
It has also blocked water, food and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal sliver into a humanitarian crisis.
