Settler urging extreme violence enjoys high-level access in Brussels

"Recalling" Israel's crimes is an empty gesture.

Kaja Kallas is accommodating towards Israel’s settlers. (European Union)

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Recollection is a big activity in Brussels.

When the European Union opts to say something about the occupied West Bank, it habitually “recalls” that Israel’s settlements violate international law.

The recollection rituals have so far yielded scant results. Just four individual settlers and two organizations branded “extremist” have been subjected to EU sanctions.

By categorizing a small number of settlers as “extremist,” the EU is implying that the remainder are reasonable or moderate. Some are even welcome in the corridors of power.

Elie Pieprz is one such settler. He recently secured a meeting with the office of Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief – “something that is not easy to get,” as he has noted.

Hailing from Maryland, Pieprz became well known in political circles when he was the international spokesperson for the Yesha Council – an umbrella group for Israel’s settlements – between 2013 and 2019. Today, he works for the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF), which claims to be part of a movement bringing together 40,000 “reserve officers and operatives.”

Months before he was received by her office, Pieprz was already emphasizing his admiration for Kallas.

In November last year, he placed her on a list of Israel’s allies. All of the others named on that list – Donald Trump in the US, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Javier Milei in Argentina – belong to the far right, whereas Kallas is a liberal.

The tacit distinction which the EU is drawing between “good” and “bad” settlers distorts reality.

On paper, the EU admits – or “recalls,” to use the preferred term – that all settlements in an occupied territory are illegal. Under the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention, their construction and expansion constitute war crimes.

All settlers are, by definition, extremists as they are stealing Palestinian land, water and other resources and contributing to the preservation of an apartheid system. They are central to maintaining a military occupation, which, as the International Court of Justice has ruled, is unlawful.

Exterminationist

Pieprz himself advocates exterminationist violence.

Although he appears careful in his choice of words, an analysis of his social media posts leads to the unavoidable conclusion that he favors mass expulsions from Gaza and a blockade on humanitarian aid amid a famine which Israel has engineered. He has also spread lies about Gaza’s largest hospital hosting a Hamas “command center” – thereby offering an excuse for attacks on healthcare facilities.

His colleagues in the Israel Defense and Security Forum have displayed similar contempt for Palestinian lives.

Amir Avivi, the organization’s founder, applauded Israel’s invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza last year – an invasion widely described as a “red line” before it occurred.

His applause indicates he has no remorse for the suffering he has inflicted on Palestinians during his lengthy military career. During the 2002 offensive codenamed Operation Defensive Shield, he commanded a brigade which caused immense destruction in the West Bank.

The IDSF is a relatively new addition to the network of pro-Israel groups which see influencing the EU as a priority.

It only signed up to a register of lobbyists active in Brussels during November 2024. The group has hired B&K Agency, a public relations firm, to help it navigate the EU labyrinth.

Noticing that B&K Agency had declared itself “proud” to cooperate with the IDSF, I contacted the firm asking why it is teaming up with a group advocating for Israel as that state carries out a genocide. The firm did not reply.

Amir Avivi has previously traveled to Brussels so that he can lobby for the IDSF.

He is not the only high-ranking Israeli officer, who has hung out in the Belgian capital without apparent fear of arrest.

Moshe Tetro is a colonel who coordinated many of Israel’s genocidal acts during the ongoing war against Gaza. He is the subject of a criminal complaint alleging that he forced starvation on a civilian population and directed attacks on hospitals.

Despite that complaint – drawn up by the Hind Rajab Foundation, which seeks accountability for crimes against Palestinians – Tetro is able to live freely in Belgium, where he is Israel’s military attaché. Judging by photographic evidence from last week, he enjoys easy access to the EU’s buildings.

In its formulaic statements, the EU has recalled repeatedly that it opposes the horrors for which Tetro and other Israeli soldiers should be brought to justice.

Recollection is pointless if you deliberately forget to do anything concrete.

•First published by The Electronic Intifada, 2 July 2025.