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Political Odd Couple? Roberta Metsola And Ian Borg’s Surprising Consensus On Israel-Palestine

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Roberta Metsola has been feeling the lion’s share of the heat locally for her perceived pro-Israel stance, but has her position on the conflict actually been different from that of the Maltese government?

The evidence shows her statements are actually very much in line with Maltese foreign policy, at least as publicly displayed by Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg.

Let’s look at what Metsola and Borg have said about the war so far.

After Hamas launched a major attack on Israel on 7th October, killing around 1,400 and kidnapping 200, this is how the two Maltese leaders responded.

Both used the word ‘terror’ to describe the attacks, both condemned them and both offered their condolences to the people of Israel.

Later that day, Metsola had a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, during which she re-expressed her sentiments and said for the first time that Israel has the right to defend itself against indiscriminate terrorist acts.

On 8th October, Metsola posted a video of a speech she had delivered at the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) in 2022, in which she said Europe will always back Israel’s right to exist, condemned violence and quoted what John F Kennedy had said about the country back in 1960.

“Israel was not created in order to disappear. Israel will endure and flourish, it is the child of hope and the home of the brave.”

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council – which Malta is currently a member of – held an emergency meeting, and Borg summarised the island’s stance as follows.

By clarifying that he was in favour of Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law, Borg completely aligned his position with that Metsola had taken.

Borg reiterated this stance in favour of Israel’s right to self-defence during a meeting of foreign ministers in Oman shortly afterwards. For the first time though, he said that humanitarian access should be assured and that EU development funds to Palestinians shouldn’t be suspended. Both are in line with Metsola’s policies.

On 11th October, Metsola gave a speech in front of a large crowd at the European Parliament, in which she described 7th October as “the worst terrorist attack in generations” and warned that “Jews were murdered simply for being Jewish”.

In her speech, Metsola sought to distinguish between the people of Palestine and Hamas, and went into detail about the horrors they had unleashed on the people of Israel.

“This isn’t a time for whataboutism, this is terror in its worst form,” she said.

Although PL MEP Alex Agius Saliba boycotted this event on the grounds that it didn’t express similar solidarity with the people of Gaza who were killed in Israeli counter-strikes, no such criticism came from the mouth of Ian Borg.

 

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A few days later, Metsola and EC President Ursula von der Leyen famously travelled to Israel and visited the sites of the terror attacks. Here, she once again sought to distinguish between Hamas and the people of Palestine, spoke about the need to “mitigate humanitarian consequences” and said that Israel’s response to the terror attack “matters”.

Unlike von der Leyen, she didn’t meet Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu but only its president Isaac Herzog, who comes from a different party than Netanyahu and who had advocated Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza.

It is believed that this was a strategic move on Metsola’s part to put some distance between her and Netanyahu while at the same time showing solidarity with the people of Israel. However, many say her trip as tone-deaf to the plight of the people of Gaza, who by then were already being targeted by a fierce bombing campaign.

Perhaps aware of the backlash, Metsola expanded on her stance during a speech at the European Parliament.

“How Israel responds to the attack matters to all of us and we must keep looking for solutions to the humanitarian consequences in Gaza,” she said.

“I know we’ll keep doing what we can to alleviate the suffering of the innocent. Even in the darkest of times, the EP will always push for a fair two-state solution that is equitable and just, we will always push for a sustainable and lasting peace. Sadly, the vile actions of Hamas terrorists have pushed this prospect further away.”

Meanwhile, Borg was questioned about Metsola’s Israel trip during an interview on the TVM show Xtra.

Borg’s response was simply to state that EU foreign policy is not led by Metsola, but by Josep Borrell.

Although MaltaToday interpreted Borg’s statement as a “rebuke” of Metsola, the minister’s statement was a diplomatic and factual declaration, and he didn’t actually say that Metsola shouldn’t have visited Israel.

It could have been tough for him to do so too, considering Joseph Muscat remains the only Maltese Prime Minister to have visited Israel.

Joseph Muscat with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel in 2013

Joseph Muscat with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel in 2013

On 17th October, the world was stunned by the news that hundreds of people had been killed in a bomb attack on Gaza’s Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital.

While describing the attack as “horrific and unjustifiable”, Metsola said more information is needed on what happened.

“We must be clear that protecting civilian lives must keep being a priority and we cannot lose sight of the humanitarian consequences,” she said.

Borg’s reaction to the hospital’s destruction was way more critical of Hamas than Metsola’s was.

“The destruction of a hospital in Gaza is appalling. We call for the respect of international law to protect civilian lives. I am shocked to learn that hundreds have been killed, civilian lives must not be targeted nor used as a human shield,” he said.

Meanwhile, Malta abstained from a UN vote on a Russian resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Borg explained that Malta abstained because the resolution wasn’t critical enough of Hamas and the Russians weren’t willing to amend the text.

With criticism mounting, on 20th October, Metsola held a meeting with the EU ambassadors of the Palestinian Authority, as well as Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the League of Arab States.

“We are looking to protect civilians, stop terror, allow for humanitarian aid, and ensure lasting regional stability,” she said.

On 24th October, Borg’s stance shifted significantly towards the plight of the people of Gaza, stating that Malta is concerned about the situation on the ground, calling for the release of hostages and a humanitarian ceasefire to allow aid to reach Gaza, and reiterating the country’s stance in favour of a two-state solution.

He reiterated this stance a few days later during a phone call with Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, adding that military escalation in the region must be avoided at all costs.

Metsola repeated this exact same stance in her response to getting picketed by a group of students at MCAST, who accused her of enabling genocide.

“We have been working tirelessly towards ensuring safe humanitarian corridors in Gaza, respect for international and humanitarian law, doing all we can to avoid civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure, get aid through and free the hostages taken by Hamas on 7th October,” she said.

“We have called for a pause in hostilities precisely to allow this to happen, to push for de-escalation in the region and lasting stability in the region.”

It is clear that Metsola and Borg have remained on the same page throughout this conflict, uttering similar statements at practically the same time.

Interestingly, although Robert Abela recently lashed out at Metsola for allegedly showing bias towards Israel, there has been no sign of rebuke by the Prime Minister towards his Foreign Minister, someone whose actions he has some control over.

This indicates that the campaign against Metsola is not much more than a political strategy to clip her wings ahead of next year’s MEP elections. It’s a clever game of smoke and mirrors by the PL government, casting Metsola as the pantomime villain while at the same time adopting identical foreign policies.

It’s fair game from PL, and Metsola shouldn’t have any delusions that she is above engaging with local politics. These kinds of narratives have a habit of sticking in people’s brains.

However, in terms of pure Israel-Palestine foreign policy, one can either agree with both Metsola and Borg, disagree with them both or be ambivalent towards them both. There really is no in-between.

This action was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the European Parliament’s grant programme in the field of communication. The European Parliament was not involved in its preparation and is, in no case, responsible for or bound by the information or opinions expressed in the context of this action. In accordance with applicable law, the authors, interviewed people, publishers or programme broadcasters are solely responsible. The European Parliament can also not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that may result from the implementation of the action.

Do you agree with the way Metsola and Borg have reacted to the war?

READ NEXT: The Public Servant: Ceasefire Now - The Only Way To End The Cycle Of Violence In Gaza Is A Two-State Solution

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]
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