Certain members of the European Parliament and advocates for trade justice have urged the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to cease granting Israel Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) status until it ceases its "unlawful occupation" of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and honors its responsibilities under international law.
This sentiment was expressed in a statement by the Our World is Not For Sale (OWINFS) network.
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The 14th Ministerial Conference of the 166 member countries of the World Trade Organization is scheduled to take place from March 26-29 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. This event coincides with calls for action from 27 civil society coalitions at both national and international levels, along with European parliamentarians.
The Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment, as outlined in the foundational principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO), mandates that member countries must apply the same level of treatment to all other members in terms of trade agreements and policies.
In July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) officially declared that Israel's actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) were in violation of international law, specifically infringing upon the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the prohibitions against acquiring territory through force, apartheid, and racial segregation. This information was brought to light by Ziad Abdel Samad, the Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) located in Beirut.
“The UN General Assembly demanded an end to Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by September 2025, yet that deadline has passed without consequence. Israel continues to defy international law and UN decisions with impunity”, Samad says.
On March 9th, a group of four European Parliament representatives formally requested the European Commission to investigate the potential exclusion of Israel from the Most Favored Nation treatment within the World Trade Organization.
“The EU rightfully stopped treating Russia as a most-favoured nation under WTO rules when they illegally invaded Ukraine in breach of the UN Charter and international law. Yet when Israel breaches the UN Charter and international law, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon and in Iran, we do not see a consistent response. We are united in our call for Israel’s MFN status to be suspended, and the EU should be leading on this,” Lynn Boylan, a Member of the European Parliament, pointed out.
OWINFS urged WTO Members to promptly implement tangible measures to halt Israel's MFN treatment and any other preferential trade agreements that inadvertently support the occupation. They also emphasized the importance of aligning trade and investment policies with international laws to avoid complicity in grave violations of human rights and international laws.
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The WTO rules include provisions for 'security exceptions' that permit members to give precedence to their obligations under the UN Charter and other core principles of international law. In the past, WTO Members have taken actions to suspend Most-Favored Nation (MFN) treatment, as seen in the case of withholding it from Russian goods and services following Russia's incursion into Ukraine.
“WTO members must now act consistently to suspend MFN treatment for Israel in view of the findings of the ICJ and the UN General Assembly, and in line with their own obligations under international law,” says Priscilla Torres, Trade Policy Advisor of REBRIP- Brasília Network for People Integration, Brazil.