— The Dutch Labor Party (PVDA), one of the two largest in the country, adopted a resolution at its pre-election Congress rejecting recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization for the time being. At the same time, however, it supported the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and called for Israel’s withdrawal from the territories it occupied in 1967.
Martin van Traa, who would become The Netherlands Foreign Minister if Labor wins the May 25 parliamentary elections, called for a “balanced” approach to the Arab-Israeli dispute and suggested that the PVDA relate itself in particular to the Israel Labor Party. He said his party might be able to influence the Israeli Laborities and help it toward victory in Israel’s parliamentary elections next June 30.
Immediate recognition of the PLO would only help Premier Menachem Begin’s Likud government in the election campaign, van Traa said. The resolu-
tion, considered a victory for moderate elements of the PVDA, did not rule out political contacts with the PLO and called for mutual recognition by the PLO and Israel. It also supported secure and recognized borders for Israel.
The PVDA presently holds 53 seats out of 150 in the lower house of the Dutch Parliament. It contains a strong pro-Palestinian lobby which has campaigned in recent years for recognition of the PLO and far-reaching concessions by Israel.
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