Gaza demonstration increases pressure within the government
Maxime Prévot, Foreign Minister (Les Engagés). – © Belga
CD&V, Vooruit and Les Engagés want the federal government to take extra measures against Israel. But according to foreign minister Maxime Prévot, N-VA and MR are on the brakes.
« The government has to do more, and quickly, » says Vooruit chairman Conner Rousseau one day after the big Gaza demonstration in Brussels. « It frustrates me enormously that the government no longer does. How some parties continue to oppose sanctions and actions is incomprehensible. » The same response gave CD&V colleague Sammy Mahdi, a day earlier. In Sunday He called on to leave Israel « not punished », and he added in one breath: « When it comes to Israel, we unfortunately have few allies. »
The large turnout during the demonstration puts the contradictions within the government again. With CD&V on the one hand and Vooruit those steps want to continue, opposite MR and N-VA Die Israel do not want to tackle too hard. Les Engagés originally stood somewhere in between, with her Foreign Minister, Maxime Prévot. But in the meantime she is completely in the CD&V camp and Vooruit. In an interview on Radio 1 Prévot no longer held in on Monday morning. He openly designated MR and N-VA as the one who stops the harder measures. « That makes it difficult to find a consensus. »
Additional sanctions
Prévot will come together next week at a top with his European colleagues. If it depends on him, he wants a broader mandate to argue for extra European sanctions. For example, according to British example, there could be an entry ban against the two extreme right-wing ministers in the Netanyahu government, the biggest promoters of the war in Gaza.
« If there is insufficient progress at this top, then we must take sanctions at the Belgian level, » says CD&V MP Els van Hoof, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. « A bill from us is ready to boycott products from the occupied territories. » Also ahead that Belgium does more, both for humanitarian aid and additional sanctions.
Despite all the calls, there is little movement in the case for the time being. For the time being, the government remains in the twelve measures it decided last month. A new discussion on the subject is not on the agenda in the short term.
