Controversial Israeli minister in the Hague
11-11-2009
Foreign minister Maxime Verhagen held talks with Israel's controversial foreign affairs minister Avigdor Lieberman in the Hague on Wednesday.
During the meeting Lieberman, who leads Israel's ultra-nationalist Israel Beiteinu party, was expected to thank Verhagen for supporting Israel during a recent UN human rights council debate. The Netherlands joined the US and four other countries in voting against a motion condemning Israel's actions during the recent Gaza war.
Verhagen told a news conference after the talks he had urged Lieberman to stop the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories and called on Israel to allow humanitarian help into the Gaza strip.
The Netherlands is one of the few countries in Europe where Lieberman is still welcome, the NRC said.
Last month, Lieberman cast a shadow over US efforts to revive the Middle East peace process when he said there is no chance of an early solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and told people to 'learn to live with it'.
The Volkskrant said Lieberman is having dinner with anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders at a secret location on Wednesday evening. 'The connections between his party and mine can be stronger,' Wilders told the paper. 'We are going to talk about that and about foreign politics.'
© DutchNews.nl