The European Economic Community (EEC) rejects economic or other sanctions against Israel for its actions in Lebanon but plans to expand its contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization, Premier and acting Foreign Minister Andries van Agt told the Dutch Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday.
He said there was “no wisdom” in applying economic sanctions. He noted that even Greece, the severest critic of Israel among the 10 EEC member states, agreed. Van Agt also said that Holland’s contribution of a battalion to the United Nations interim Force (UNIFIL) in south Lebanon cannot last much longer under the present circumstances. The future of the Dutch contingent will be discussed by the Parliamentary Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee next week.
Meanwhile, the second chamber of Parliament has scheduled a plenary debate on Israel’s responsibility for the massacre of Palestinians at the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps in west Beirut last month. The debate was requested by Labor and other leftist parties. It was postponed until next Thursday because of Van Agt’s presence at the UN General Assembly session in New York.
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