Belgian Foreign Minister Pulls Out of Visit to Israel, Palestine

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders canceled his upcoming visit to Israel and Palestine following Tel Aviv’s decision to suspend all contact with Europe due to the regional conflict, the ministry said in a statement.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli Foreign Ministry to cut all contact with EU institutions and representatives, as well as to reassess Jerusalem's participation in the process to find a diplomatic solution for the long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

"Following the decision by the Prime Minister of Israel Mr. Netanyahu to suspend contacts with the European Union on the Middle East peace process, and considering the impact of this decision on the program of the visit of Didier Reynders, the latter confirmed this Tuesday morning to the Ambassador of Israel in Belgium his decision to postpone his visit to a later date," the statement published late Tuesday read.

Reynders was set for a three-day visit to Israel and Palestine starting Saturday.

According to the statement, the Belgian foreign minister also regretted "having to postpone his contacts with his Palestinian interlocutors."

Most of the areas claimed by the State of Palestine were seized by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity and continues to build settlements in occupied territories, prompting condemnation from the UN.