The firm statements of the Belgian king Filip about “serious humanitarian abuses” in Gaza during his annual speech on the national holiday on July 21, the books go in as his most morally charged speech in more than ten years of kingship. Royal family connoisseurs and the Belgian media agree on that.
King Filip started this way, looking into the camera, on Sunday afternoon on Belgian television: “For decades, international law was the reliable pillar on which states could support. Today that is openly questioned.” He continues: “But when the international law is stepped down, the whole world loses.”
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The Belgian head of state almost immediately addressed the European Union on Sunday, which ‘cooperation [met Israël] remains preferable to confrontation ”. From Brussels, he encourages the European institutions that sit in its hometown:” Europe must apply its leadership even more strongly. ” Less than a week earlier it turned out that the EU is not imposing sanctions or taking other measures against the Netanyahu government, despite violation of humanitarian law in Gaza. A diplomatic agreement, with Israel’s promise to admit more food aid to Gaza, is based on this.
With this speech Filip says: ‘The size is full, I can no longer remain silent’
‘Unique event’
The statements about Gaza, which form the core of the speech, are “far -reaching,” says Mark van den Wijngaert, emeritus professor of contemporary history at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and connoisseur of the Belgian royal family. According to him, there are virtually no kings in the history of the Belgian monarchy that have taken a clearer position in terms of the international legal order. The Dutch King Willem-Alexander has also not made such statements publicly. “It is a unique event, in the history of the monarchy and in a general sense.”
Van den Wijngaert attributes the statements to the personal opinion of King Filip. “He waited a long time, probably as the federal government would have taken a position. But that did not happen, given the disagreement between the two major government parties [N-VA en MR] Because of a certain electoral supporter in Jewish circles. With this speech he says: “The size is full, I can no longer remain silent.”
If you can believe the left media, Gaza is the biggest problem in our country
The Belgian government, then, under the leadership of former Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, was one of the first after the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 to defend humanitarian law in Gaza. In the spring of 2024 he was looking for European partners to impose sanctions on Israel.
Then the political wind turned. This year the debate in the De Wever government in February paved. Minister of Defense Theo Francken (N-VA) “frustrated” the coalition partners regularly with his Gaza statements, Dagblad wrote The morning In May. On X posted Francken: “Gaza, Gaza, Gaza all day in every news bulletin” and “If you can believe the left media, Gaza is the biggest problem in our country. They talk about nothing else”.
Last week a court in Brussels ruled that the Flemish government must stop ‘every’ form of arms export to Israel. Like the federal government, the Flemish government is divided on the issue and appeals against the ruling.
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Formal and compassionate
King Filip (1960) has been on the throne since 2013 and his popularity is growing, a recent poll showed. He is seen as formal, but is also known for his “human, compassionate and involved” side.
Although the king has to refrain from political statements, his speech can be interpreted as support for Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés). He would like to take a stronger position on Gaza, but encounters political resistance. However, the speech was politically covered – as is formally the case with everything the king says or does – by the cabinet of Prime Minister Bart De Wever, in the context of ministerial responsibility. On Monday, the Belgian government was one of the signatories of a call from mainly European countries to stop the war in Gaza.
The speech, who, according to Koningshuis expert of Den Wijngaert, was written by the King himself, was a “delicate task.”
With an anecdote over two fathers, a Palestinian and an Israeli, who both lost a child in the conflict, the king emphasized in his speech that “human dignity” is at stake. Van den Wijngaert: “He spoke from his conviction as a world citizen, as a humanist.” He concludes: “Let him be an example for other heads of state.”
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