The Dutch Senate, Holland’s upper house of parliament, voted on Monday in favor of a resolution calling on the Dutch government to take an active position in the United Nations (UN) against countries that attack Israel.
The decision calls on the government to vote against UN resolutions relating to the Temple Mount area only in its Muslim name “al-Haram al-Sharif” without reference to its Jewish history.
the UN’s Special Political and Decolonization Committee passed a resolution last week that condemned Israel’s actions in Jerusalem and mentions the Temple Mount only by its Muslim name with no reference to its significance to Jews.
The Senate called on the government to encourage more European countries to take similar steps.
This is a declaratory decision initiated by the Christian SGP party, which in the past passed a resolution in the lower house of the Dutch parliament against discrimination against Israel at the UN.
Despite the declarative nature of the decision, the Dutch government does not tend to completely ignore such decisions because queries from MPs often come up after votes that are inconsistent with the decisions.
Israeli Ambassador to The Hague Naor Gilon welcomed the decision of the Dutch Senate “to combat the continuing discrimination against Israel at the UN” and thanked the senators who “led the important decision that testifies to the special relationship between the Dutch people and Israel.”
“This is a clear message against attempts by various parties to erase the Jewish people’s more than 3,000-year-old historical connection to Jerusalem,” he underscored.
