Belgium raps Israel envoy for tweet protesting UN invite to anti-Israel speaker
Ambassador summoned over retweet rebuking Brussels for hosting ‘terror supporters’ at upcoming Security Council session; Jerusalem insists Belgium cancel invite to Brad Parker
7 February 2020
Israel and Belgium engaged in diplomatic mudslinging Friday after Jerusalem accused Brussels of a systematic campaign to demonize the Jewish state at the United Nations, including by hosting a “radical” pro-Palestinian activist next week at the Security Council.
The Belgian foreign ministry on Friday morning summoned Israel’s ambassador, Emmanuel Nahshon and gave him a dressing down for retweeting a tweet critical of Brussels’s choice to invite Brad Parker, a senior member of Defense for Children International – Palestine, to address the Security Council.
In a statement sent to Israeli reporters, the Belgian foreign ministry said it was “surprised and dismayed” by Israel’s expressing its discontent about the matter in the media.
“We have called in the Israeli Ambassador this morning to express our dismay at certain tweets which he has retweeted in his official capacity as Ambassador to Belgium. We have expressed our clear disagreement both on substance and form,” the statement said.
“Belgium is attached to good relations with Israel and wants to maintain an open and frank dialogue among friends. Indeed, we have reached out proactively to Israel on this particular topic. However, that should/will not stop us from having an opinion.”
Read more at www.timesofisrael.com
