A majority of the House of Representatives does not want to interrupt the summer recess for a debate about the situation in Gaza and the attitude of the Netherlands and the European Union to Israel. Opposition parties GroenLinks-PvdA and D66 asked for a debate in the Foreign Affairs Chamber Committee.
That debate request, which was made through a so -called email procedure, came support from SP, Party for the Animals, Volt and DENK. NSC and BBB government parties voted against. This also applies to PVV and SGP. The VVD, the largest party in the outgoing cabinet, said nothing. CDA, ChristenUnie, Forum for Democracy and JA21 also did not say that it was for or against a debate. This means that there is no majority for the request.
D66 MP Jan Paternotte, one of the petitioners of the request, mentions it on X “A weakness” that the debate does not take place. “PVV and NSC block the request to hold a debate about Gaza. That is possible, because the VVD does not even respond to the application. Doing nothing about sanctions in the EU, doing nothing in the Netherlands and you don’t want to justify about it. What a weakness bid,” Paternotte writes.
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Paternotte applied for the debate together with Kati Piri (GL-PvdA). Both parties want the government to impose sanctions on Israel. “EU ministers decided not to set any sanction against Israel last week,” writes Piri on social media. This refers to the decision of the EU Buitenlandministers not to impose sanctions on Israel, despite accusations of violations of the association agreement. On Monday, 28 countries, including 20 EU Member States, signed a letter with a call to Israel to stop violence and allow humanitarian aid. This group of countries did not impose any sanctions on Israel.
“The Netherlands has to convene the European Council and in the meantime set national measures,” says Piri. A number of EU countries, including Germany, remain against setting sanctions.