Israel protests after Belgian minister says Palestinian towns being ‘wiped off map’
Ambassador to Brussels calls comments on settler harassment of Palestinians ‘libelous and defamatory,’ sends letter to foreign ministry as counterpart called for dressing-down
Israel summoned Belgium’s ambassador for a dressing down this week after a Belgian minister claimed Israel was destroying Palestinian towns, the Israeli envoy in Brussels said.
In an interview with Flemish daily De Morgen published earlier this week, Development Cooperation Minister Caroline Gennez claimed “entire villages are being wiped off the map by the Israelis.”
Israeli Ambassador Idit Rosenzweig-Abu said Wednesday that the Foreign Ministry had complained about Gennez’s comments to Ambassador Jean-Luc Dodson.
“The Belgian ambassador in Israel was summoned to the MFA for reprimand and required to provide explanations,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
A spokesperson from Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Rosenzweig-Abu also sent a protest letter to the Belgian foreign ministry and to Gennez, whose comments she described as “libelous and defamatory.”
Gennez appeared to be referring to a recent Associated Press report that three Bedouin hamlets in Area C of the West Bank had been cleared out, due to what former residents said was a year of intensified attacks and harassment by armed Jewish settlers living in unauthorized outposts on neighboring hilltops.
Gennez described the situation as “unsustainable.”
“The periods of escalating violence are shorter than before, but more frequent and more intense. As a result, the population no longer has room to catch its breath,” she said in the interview, which was largely focused on efforts to step up humanitarian aid worldwide.
Ties between Israel and Belgium have experienced a number of small-scale hiccups in recent years over Brussels’ support for Palestinians.
In 2021, Israel lashed out at Belgium and then-deputy foreign minister Idan Roll canceled meetings with Belgian officials to protest an announcement that the country would label Israeli products coming from the West Bank and increase controls on goods coming from settlements.
