ALBAWABA- The Dutch government has summoned Israel’s ambassador to protest Israel’s decision to revoke the diplomatic status of Dutch representatives accredited to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, further escalating a growing dispute between the two countries.
Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen expressed regret over the Israeli decision and called it unnecessary. He said the Netherlands’ restrictions on goods from Israeli settlements were based on its position on the occupied Palestinian territories and were not directed against Israel itself. Israeli Ambassador Zvi Aviner Vapni is expected to meet Dutch Foreign Ministry officials in the coming days to explain Israel’s decision.
Israel announced Sunday that Dutch diplomats representing the Netherlands in its dealings with the Palestinian Authority would have seven days to return their Israeli-issued diplomatic documents. Their diplomatic privileges and immunities granted by Israel would then expire.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the measure was a response to the Netherlands’ decision to ban the import, purchase and sale of goods originating in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The restrictions took effect last week.
Sa’ar said that if the Netherlands wanted to continue representing its interests with the Palestinians, it should do so from Palestinian Authority territory rather than territory Israel regards as sovereign. He also warned that countries taking what he described as hostile and unilateral measures against Israel would lose influence in the region. The latest dispute follows an Israeli decision in August to exclude Dutch officials from a U.S.-led coordination center for Gaza based in Israel.
Following the entry into force last week of an order banning the import and sale of products from Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, we informed the Dutch Embassy in Israel this evening that Dutch diplomats operating in Ramallah must return their…
Tensions also rose after Dutch customs authorities began enforcing the settlement-goods ban. Israeli reports said customs officials had inspected luggage carried by passengers arriving from Israel, including on an El Al flight, prompting Israeli authorities to warn travelers about potentially lengthy checks.
The Netherlands has defended the restrictions as consistent with its obligations under international law, arguing that it should not contribute to what it considers the unlawful situation created by Israeli settlements.
The diplomatic dispute comes amid increasingly strained relations between Israel and several European countries over settlement expansion, settler violence and the future of the two-state solution.
Dr. Mansour Al-Maswari is Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University-Global Center, Amman. A Yemeni academician with a Ph.D. in English "Comparative Literature" and two MA degrees, one in political science and the other in English, Dr. Al-Maswari possesses more than 17 years of extensive experience in university-level teaching, research, research reviewing, bilingual translation, and copy-writing...
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