The Netherlands Government will resist all Arab boycott measures aimed at Israel or Jewish firms which threaten infringement of Dutch interests, Prime Minister Dr. Willem Drees told Sen. Pieter J. Kapteyn today. The Socialist Senator had raised the question in the Upper House some time ago.
The Prime Minister declared that as a member of the United Nations, the Nether-lands “shares responsibility” for the existence of Israel and that economic action against the Jewish State is “illegal and conflicts with the armistice agreements” which are under UN auspices. He further stated that Royal Dutch Shell had informed him that the decision by Shell to withdraw from the Israeli market was “purely” a commercial action.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Josef Luns told Parliament that The Hague Government would support all UN efforts to find a solution in the Middle East, provided such a solution guaranteed the existence of Israel.
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