Belgium’s foreign minister told parliament that Belgium must quickly recognise the state of Palestine.
Maxime Prevot spoke at an emergency debate on Thursday to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
He expressed his concerns that no decision on recognition had been taken yet, despite an agreement to do so after the coalition government was formed in February.
“If Belgium does not make progress towards official recognition in September, there will soon be nothing left to recognise,” he said.
“Moreover, Belgium will lose all credibility in speaking about a two-state solution.”
He also called for economic sanctions on Israel, and for Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to be on a “blacklist” in Belgium that would forbid them from entering. The UK and Norway, alongside three other countries, sanctioned the two Israeli ministers in June.
“History shows that the introduction of targeted sanctions can be an effective lever for moving situations marked by serious violence towards a dynamic of peace and sustainable conflict resolution,” he said.
“We must therefore raise our tone and be firmer, and deploy an assumed and progressive strategy of sanctions.”
The debate broke the summer break time, and Mr Prevot urged for a plan to recognise Palestine in time for the UN General Assembly in September, alongside France.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever, of the right wing Flemish party N-VA, did not call a cabinet meeting about the deteriorating situation in Gaza, frustrating his coalition partners, including Mr Prevot’s centrist party, Les Engages.
Les Engages, alongside CD&V and Vooruit, support a rapid recognition of Palestine, whereas liberal MR and the right wing N-VA oppose it, arguing that the conditions to do so have not been met, and that sanctions would be ineffective without US backing.
Mr De Wever is currently on holiday in South Africa and no decision on the issue is expected to be made yet.
Mr Prevot pledged to mobilise allies within the coalition to gain support. “This is not an ideological debate, it is about respecting the law,” Mr Prevot said, pledging to mobilise allies within the coalition.
“The government must not miss its appointment with history, with our conscience, and with our moral and legal obligations,” he said. “It is essential that we continue to act to ensure international justice and maintain Belgium's reputation as a defender of human rights.”
He feared that failure to do so would “isolate” Belgium alongside a “minority” of other European Union countries.
“We would join the minority of EU member states (and countries around the world) that have not recognised Palestine, isolating us a little more from others and sinking us into our contradictions,” he said.
He rejected accusations that recognising Palestine was rewarding Hamas. “Recognition is a 'bonus' for the Palestinain Authority, not for Hamas. It strengthens the peaceful struggle.
“The recognition of a state is neither a reward nor a weapon,” he said.
Mr Prevot announced he had also sent the draft of a Royal Decree, that would tighten Belgium’s existing ban on arms sales to Israel and Palestine, which came into effect in 2009.
The draft decree would prohibit arms being shipped to Israel or Palestine to cross Belgian airspace. “will thus even cover the overflight of our airspace, and therefore a fortiori any transit,” he said.
Yet Mr Prevot feared that these measures, and others taken in the government’s first six months, would be undermined by a failure to recognise.
Nearly 800 Belgian nationals and recognised refugees in Gaza had been evacuated by Belgium, he said, praising the diplomats who co-ordinated the “extremely complicated” process.
“I want to take my hat off to all our diplomats and other personnel mobilised,” he said.
“One must imagine the chaotic situation on the ground in order to find the people concerned in a war zone, to ensure their correct identity, to carry out the required analyses, to identify the routes of exfiltration, to secure these corridors, to organise transport and repatriation without further endangerment,” he said.
