The Dutch Cabinet started its deliberations this morning on whether it should transfer its embassy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. The deliberations are expected to last several days. A debate will also take place tomorrow in the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
Before the Cabinet session began today members and sympathizers of three pro-Israel organizations — The Netherlands Israel Committee, the Working Group for Israel and The Netherlands Zionist Organization — demonstrated in front of the Premier’s office in The Hogue and presented a petition to Dutch Foreign Minister Christoph van der Klauw. The petition asked Holland not to yield to Arab blackmail and not to transfer the Dutch embassy from Jerusalem. The Working Group for Israel and The Netherlands. Israel Committee are comprised mainly of non-Jews.
At the same time, the Chief Rabbinate of The Netherlands Ashkenazi congregation cabled the Roman Catholic Cardinal, Msgr. Johannes Willebrands, and the synods of the Dutch Reformed Church and other Protestant congregations asking Christians to give sermons in their church services on Jerusalem and its holiness and to point to the danger of an increasing isolation of Israel as a result of outside pressure. It is extremely rare that the Chief Rabbinate in The Netherlands issues appeals to the Christian churches.
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