A new course that the Netherlands needs in the Israel-Palestine conflict

The Netherlands must change its attitude and policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and be more committed to a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. Our country must also make more effective efforts, together with other European countries, to prevent a larger regional war in the Middle East, says the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV)the advisory board for the government and the parliament in the field of foreign policy.

According to the advisory council, the Netherlands and the international community have so far not done enough to reduce the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That needs to change, the council believes.

“The great suffering of people, the deteriorating situation in the West Bank and the growing polarization in society was the reason for the AIV to draw up this advisory letter for the government and parliament of the Holland,” the council wrote in an explanation.

Although the Netherlands is not very active on the world stage, it still needs to do more. Among other things, it must actively promote work on a two-state solution, the council writes. This is best done in cooperation with other European countries.

The council continues that actively promoting a two-state solution includes the possible recognition of a Palestinian state. The conditions for this must be the disarmament of Hamas, the newly elected Palestinian leadership and broad support and recognition of the state of Israel.

The council also sees the wide-ranging consequences of the conflict in our own country and talks about “the alarming growth of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and polarization” in the Netherlands. The council advises the Dutch government to do “whatever they can” to combat the effects of the conflict in our country. An action plan must be drawn up for both the short and long term.