International

An initial refusal of the SP's proposal for a return from recess to discuss the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip with Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has now been reversed. Members of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs will meet on Friday to debate the matter. SP Foreign Affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel said that he was pleased by the decision: “The Netherlands must condemn this invasion,” he said. “But most importantly it must give no support to the upgrading of the association agreement between the EU and Israel, as recently proposed by the European Commission. This would send completely the wrong message. It is sad that the Dutch government has for the most part had nothing to say about this.”

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel has formally proposed that the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs be recalled from recess in order to meet with Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen to discuss the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. The move has already attracted the support of two small opposition groups, the Green Left and the centrist D66. “The Netherlands must condemn this invasion,” Van Bommel says, “and should refuse to support moves to strengthen EU-Israeli relations, as proposed by the European Commission. This would be sending the wrong message.”