Federal MP for the Flemish right-wing N-VA party Theo Francken has strongly criticised the Belgian government on Israeli television, following Prime Minister Alexander De Croo's visit to the Middle East last week.
Following De Croo's visit to Israel and Egypt last week, Francken appeared on Israeli television for an interview in which he criticised Belgian foreign policy regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict.
"Our Prime Minister accuses Israel of war crimes, but takes no action to tackle anti-Semitism at home," Francken said on the Israeli channel i24News, adding that this is "the drop in the emmer who is totally full [sic]." (Francken mistranslated a common Dutch phrase, which would mean "the last straw" in English.)
However, what Francken is saying is "factually incorrect," responded De Croo, stressing that Belgium does take action against anti-Semitism, not only in real life but also online. "We track people down, go to their door and take action."
'Winning votes'
Francken's statements are mainly damaging to himself, said De Croo. He added that this is the time to respond to the atrocities in Israel and Gaza as a human being, not as a politician, but that Francken is only concerned with "winning votes."
Francken's interview on Israeli television followed De Croo's visit to Israel on Wednesday, including a visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The next day, De Croo went to Rafah on the Egypt-Gaza border where he gave a speech, together with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, which was not well received in Israel.
According to Netanyahu, De Croo failed to place the responsibility for the war between Israel and Hamas on the terrorist group. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen added that the "false claims" by the Belgian and Spanish government leaders showed "support for terrorism."
"They did not listen well," De Croo responded to the Israeli criticism. Later that day, he shared the full speech on social media to clarify exactly what he had said.
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The text shows that De Croo did point the finger at Hamas in his speech. He said, among other things, that the extremist group started the war with the attack on 7 October and labelled its actions as "barbaric acts of terror."
In addition, De Croo underlined Israel's responsibility, urging the Netanyahu government to be cautious and to stop causing civilian casualties. "Israel must adhere to international humanitarian law during military operations to stop terrorist attacks."
"The killing of civilians must stop," De Croo said. A position that he says he continues to support, and also reiterated on social media.
In the meantime, Francken explained why he had criticised Belgium's Federal Government: "De Croo and Sanchez make no distinction between Israel, a mature democracy, Hamas, a terrorist organisation and the autocracy of the Palestinian Authority. It is as if they are equally guilty."
