The Netherlands has urged Israel to institute a complete moratorium on the construction of settlements in the occupied territories and to resume peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. This was announced by Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen after a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman in The Hague.

Afterwards, Mr Verhagen acknowledged that the conversation had been difficult at times. ‘I made it clear that Israel will have to do more to break the current impasse and end the cycle of violence. The Netherlands would like to see a constructive attitude from all parties in the Middle East, in the interest of restarting the peace talks.’

Mr Lieberman reiterated that the Israeli government was still working towards a two-state solution: a Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel. The two ministers agreed that furthering the political process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was essential.

Mr Verhagen expressed Dutch concerns about the dire situation in the Gaza Strip and called on Israel to open the borders, initially to allow in humanitarian aid. ‘Israel has every right to defend itself against rocket attacks on innocent civilians originating in the Gaza Strip, but closing borders is counterproductive. It only leads to more smuggling, including the smuggling of weapons that can be used for new terrorist attacks.’

In addition, the Netherlands announced its intention to closely monitor both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to see what, if any, action is taken to investigate possible war crimes committed during the fighting in and around Gaza at the beginning of the year, and whether charges are brought against offenders, where appropriate. ‘People cannot be allowed to commit serious human rights violations with impunity,’ said Mr Verhagen.

Mr Lieberman had travelled to the Netherlands from Denmark. Earlier in this trip he had visited Austria, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany and the Czech Republic and had met with representatives of the European Union.

The Israeli foreign minister also met members of the Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Gerdi Verbeet, the President of the House of Representatives.



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