Dutch lawmaker who called for sanctions on Israel resigns

Desiree Bonis steps down after three-year stint as Labor party representative, says ‘It did not bring me where I wanted to get’

15 June 2013, 1:10 am

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Dutch Labor party representative Desiree Bonis (photo credit: CC BY, Partij van de Arbeid, Flickr)

THE HAGUE, the Netherlands (JTA) — A Dutch lawmaker who recently called for government sanctions against Israel has resigned.

Desiree Bonis made her resignation from Dutch Labor known on Thursday.

“It did not bring me where I wanted to get,” she said of her three-year stint in The Hague.

The previous day, she called on Frans Timmermans, Holland’s foreign minister and senior member of her party, to apply sanctions on Israel. “Israel only understands pressure,” she said.

Timmermans is scheduled to visit Israel and the West Bank on June 18. Last month, he said that he had “no criticism” on strikes in Syria which were widely attributed to Israel, and which the European Union has condemned.

Last month Bonis, who before her entry to Labor in 2010 served as ambassador to Syria for four years, said that her “patience for Israel was running out” because of what she described as Israel’s “failure” to meet international norms.