The Daily Populous Wednesday September 3rd, 2025 morning edition
Authored by politico.eu and submitted by Firecracker048

Prévot said two “extremist” Israeli ministers, several “violent settlers” and Hamas leaders would be designated “persona non grata” in Belgium. While he didn’t name the ministers, they are likely to be Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who have been sanctioned by other countries including the U.K. over accusations they incite violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“This is not about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground,” Prévot said.

In July, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N. meeting, due to be held from Sept. 9 to 23 in New York, and more than a dozen other Western countries have since said they would do the same. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said the move feeds antisemitism, “rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims.”

In his post in the early hours of Tuesday, Prévot said Belgium would make a “firm commitment to calling for European measures targeting Hamas and supporting new Belgian initiatives to combat antisemitism, further mobilizing all our security services and involving representatives of Jewish communities.”

Prévot also voiced support for the EU to suspend its association agreement with Israel. The European Commission has proposed suspending parts of the agreement dealing with research and development after concluding Israel had breached its human rights obligations under the deal, but the proposal has so far been blocked because Germany, among others, wasn’t willing to support penalizing Israel in this way.

Prévot and his centrist Les Engagés party last month threatened to block government business if their Flemish nationalist and liberal coalition partners obstructed their plans to take a tougher stance against Israel. The Belgian government has since had multiple crisis meetings seeking to resolve the impasse.

maximus_danus on September 2nd, 2025 at 12:43 UTC »

"The recognition of Palestine would only be formalized if Hamas releases all remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and the militant group “no longer has any role in managing Palestine,” Prévot said."

Canada had the same conditions. Pro palestinian groups called it "colonial imperialist meddling in Palestinian affairs". A new "Sykes-Picot", etc etc. Im sure Belgium will get the same amount of love...

Two_Pickachu_One_Cup on September 2nd, 2025 at 12:12 UTC »

In this conflict its really important to distinguish what is said for the domestic audience and the actual behaviour of a country.

The West (collectively speaking) are under pressure domestically to act in the Palestine/Israel conflict.

Israel was given an implicit "green light" to go to war with Hamas after the October attacks. But that green light was only ever going to stretch as far as their domestic audience would allow it.

Geopolitically the West, and the US in particular, know that the Iranian influence that has gripped the region is weakening. Iran was always a counter weight to US soft power in the region. Israel and its actions have been absolutely key to eroding the Iranian grip and expanding US soft power.

That is why on one level you see the West "punishing" Israel by threatening to recognise a token Palestinian state, but on the other fully endorse Israeli military action in the region. The West could really put the pressure on Israel if they wanted to, but, its in their best interests to keep Israel going and Israel knows this full well.

Firecracker048 on September 2nd, 2025 at 12:06 UTC »

> Belgium will join the group of countries that will recognize the state of Palestine at this month’s U.N. General Assembly and will impose sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza, Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot announced overnight.

> The recognition of Palestine would only be formalized if Hamas releases all remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and the militant group “no longer has any role in managing Palestine,” Prévot said.

My personal take? These European nations are doing more for the Palestine cause than any western pro Palestinian group. They actually require Hamas to have no role in the future of Palestine, something no western group has demanded