Belgium remains a "friend of Israel" with which it maintains "frank and cordial" diplomatic relations despite some occasional points of disagreement in particular on the "settlement policy," a Belgian official told a local Jewish leader.
Maurice Sosnowski, president of CCOJB, the umbrella representative group of Belgian Jewish organizations, had requested a meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders after Belgium voted at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva in favour of a resolution supporting the establishment of a "fact-finding mission to probe the effects of settlements on Palestinian human rights."
Belgium and Austria were the only EU member states in the Council to vote the resolution.
"In the absence of Mr. Reynders, and given our urgent request, Maurice Sosnowski was received by his cabinet chief, Francois de Kerchove" the CCOJB said in a statement.
Belgium's Mideast policy remains guided by its support to Israel’s security in the framework of a peaceful solution based on “two peoples, two states”, the official said.
According to CCOJB, Kerchove regretted that "some are exploiting Belgian critics against specific aspects of Israel’s policy to import the conflict in Belgium and through confusions participate in the development of anti-Semitism."
Earlier this week, Israel summoned the ambassadors of Belgium and Austria to the foreign ministry to present the two countries with an official governmental complaint after the Geneva vote.
The other EU member states in the UN Council – Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Romania – abstained.

EJP