Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende said on Sunday that he understood Israel's actions, given the scores of rockets that are being fired from Gaza onto Israeli targets by the Islamist Hamas movement.
In an interview on Dutch public television, Balkenende refused to condemn Israel for its military action. He called for international pressure on both sides. "Both parties should acknowledge that it is in the interest of their people if they renounce violence," the Christian Democratic politician said.
Foreign minister Maxime Verhagen faced criticism in the Dutch parliament for his reaction to the Israeli operation on Gaza. Hours after Israel began attacking Hamas targets, Verhagen had condemned the provocations by Hamas "that led to this situation” and called on Israel to "show the greatest possible restraint to prevent further civilian casualties." The leader of the opposition Socialist Party said the Foreign Minister had given an "unworthy and one-sided reaction. The appeal he made to Israel is entirely insufficient. It is a disproportionate reaction to a disproportionately violent action taken by Israel. The only appropriate reaction would be to condemn Israel and urge the country to cease the violence," Agnes Kant said.
Another opposition parliamentarian, Harry van Bommel, admitted that he had called for a new Palestinian intifada against Israel at an anti-violence demonstration in Amsterdam on Saturday, but added that he had meant "civil disobedience and peaceful protest".
Meanwhile, the European Jewish Congress (EJC) commended French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel for placing the responsibility for the current conflict on Hamas. The EJC also welcomed the declarations made by the Czech EU presidency. Sarkozy stated after a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah that Hamas bore "a heavy responsibility for the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza."
In a statement, the European Jewish Congress expressed “support for Israel’s right to defend itself from terrorist attacks.’ EJC president Moshe Kantor said: “The international community and the European Union should understand that this fight against Hamas is part of the global campaign against terrorism. Israel is on the front lines of the battle against terrorism that stretches all over the world, while Hamas is part of a larger, international terrorist network, with links to Tehran.”
