- April 30, 2026
- 11:46 pm
- World News
On April 29, 2026, the European Parliament approved a resolution once again demanding that future funding for the Palestinian Authority be linked to the removal of anti-Semitic materials, incitement to violence, and the glorification of ‘martyrdom’ and jihad from school textbooks. In the final vote, the document passed with 418 votes in favor, 207 against, and 14 abstentions. These figures are indicated in the official roll-call vote record of the European Parliament.
For Israel, this is not just European bureaucracy. It’s about what children are taught in a system that international donors have called part of the future ‘peace process’ for decades. If textbooks retain images of the enemy, a cult of violence, and the heroization of terrorists, then the issue is not only about money but about what reality Europe is effectively helping to reproduce.
What exactly did the European Parliament decide
The European Parliament resolution calls on the Palestinian Authority to remove from educational materials all content that does not meet UNESCO standards, primarily materials that encourage anti-Semitism, incite violence, or glorify jihad and ‘martyrdom.’
According to The Times of Israel, the European Parliament has condemned Palestinian Authority textbooks for the seventeenth consecutive year. The publication also states that the resolutions require future EU aid to be conditioned on the removal of anti-Semitic and inciting content from the school curriculum.
This is an important point: it’s not about a one-time criticism or a political statement ‘for the record.’ In Brussels, they are once again noting a problem that has remained unresolved for years, despite promises to reform educational materials.
Why the vote became noticeable
The decision did not pass by a narrow margin. 418 deputies supported the resolution, 207 opposed it, and 14 abstained. For such a topic, this indicates that the issue of Palestinian textbooks has gone beyond the narrow Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
It is especially important that the discussion is not only about the right-wing parties of Europe. Israeli media note that the initiative was also supported by representatives of centrist and center-left forces, meaning that criticism of PA textbooks is gradually becoming a broader European issue.
The American report increased the pressure
Almost simultaneously with the European vote, the US State Department published a report for Congress on Palestinian payments for acts of terrorism and restrictions on aid to the West Bank and Gaza. The document, citing IMPACT-se data, states that the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education textbooks for grades 1–12, as of November 2025, still glorify jihad and contain incitement to violence.
IMPACT-se, an organization that analyzes school programs for compliance with standards of peace and tolerance, claims that Palestinian textbooks remain ‘openly anti-Semitic,’ continue to encourage violence, jihad, and martyrdom, and peace is not taught as a desirable or even possible alternative.
For the Israeli audience, the key question here sounds harsh: if the West demands political concessions from Israel, why does it not demand with the same insistence the cessation of hate education in the structures it finances?
Connection with October 7
After October 7, the topic of school education no longer seems secondary. When a cult of ‘martyrdom,’ the heroization of violence, and the denial of the right of Jews to security are formed in the educational environment for years, it does not remain within the pages of a textbook.
NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency considers this story in this context: European funding, the Palestinian educational system, and Israeli security do not exist separately from each other. There is a direct political and moral connection between them.
If a child from an early age sees in the school program the image of a Jew as an enemy and a terrorist as a hero, then international mediators cannot be surprised why negotiations do not yield results. A textbook is not a minor detail. It is the foundation of future conflict or future peace.
What this means for Israel and Europe
The European Parliament resolution does not yet mean the automatic cessation of funding for the Palestinian Authority. It is a political signal and a recommendation to the European Commission: future aid should be linked to real changes in the curriculum.
But the very fact of such a vote is important. Europe, which often takes a critical stance towards Israel, is now forced to publicly discuss the responsibility of Palestinian institutions. Not only Israel must answer questions about security, borders, and the humanitarian situation. The Palestinian Authority must also answer for what it teaches children.
Why freezing funding became part of the discussion
The logic of the resolution’s supporters is simple: if European money helps the education system, then Europe has the right to demand that this system does not foster hatred towards Jews and does not romanticize violence.
Otherwise, a dangerous double standard emerges. At the diplomatic level, Brussels talks about peace, dialogue, and two states, while at the practical level, it continues to fund structures where anti-Semitic and radicalizing elements do not disappear from textbooks.
For Israel, this is especially sensitive against the backdrop of war, threats from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. In a region where every ideology of hatred sooner or later turns into rockets, terrorist attacks, or a new wave of radicalization, the school curriculum becomes a matter of national security.
Main conclusion
On April 29, 2026, the European Parliament effectively acknowledged: the problem of Palestinian textbooks is not resolved, promises of reform have not become a reality, and funding without conditions only entrenches the old model.
Now the question moves to the European Commission. Either European aid will be accompanied by real control and consequences, or the resolution will remain another document that sounds good in Brussels but changes little on the ground.
For Israel, this is a reason to remind once again: peace does not begin with press conferences and resolutions. It begins with what a child is taught in school — to see a neighbor as a person or a future target.