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 Belgium |  Israel |
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Belgium–Israel relations are the bilateral relations betweenBelgium andIsrael. Belgium voted in favor of theUnited Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947 and recognized the State of Israel on January 15, 1950. Belgium has an embassy inTel Aviv,[1] and Israel has an embassy inBrussels.[2]
In February 2010, a plaque honoringKing Albert I, husband ofElizabeth of Bavaria, was unveiled at Albert Square inTel Aviv in the presence of the Tel Aviv mayorRon Huldai and AmbassadorBénédicte Frankinet.
King Albert visited Tel Aviv in 1933 and was hosted byMeir Dizengoff.
King Baudouin andQueen Fabiola visited Israel in 1964.[3]
In 1975, Belgium voted against the UN resolution equatingZionism with racism. It helped Israel establish informal ties withTunisia and join theWestern European and Others Group at theUnited Nations. Many cultural, scientific and economic bilateral agreements have been signed, and a number of Belgium-Israel friendship associations have been established. The faculty club and guesthouse ofHebrew University of Jerusalem, known asBeit Belgia, was built with the financial aid of the Belgian Friends of the Hebrew University.[3]
In 2009, Israeli exports to Belgium reached $2.37 billion, while imports from Belgium totalled $2.56 billion. In 2010, trade increased by approximately 50%.[4]
In March 2010, Israel and Belgium signed a newtax treaty agreement to improve the competitiveness of Israeli companies operating in Belgium and encourage Belgian investment in Israel.[5]
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In October 2023, during theGaza war, Belgian Prime MinisterAlexander De Croo strongly condemned the atrocities committed by Hamas, and supported Israel's right to defend itself, but later deemed the destruction of Gaza "unacceptable", and called on Israel to respect international humanitarian law during its military operations. Following a meeting with Egyptian PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi in November, De Croo held a joint press conference at theRafah border crossing along with Spanish Prime MinisterPedro Sánchez.[6] During the conference, both European leaders said in a joint statement that the "indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians" in Gaza are "completely unacceptable."[7] In a joint statement, they emphasized that the time had come for theinternational community and theEuropean Union (EU) to once and for all recognize aPalestinian State and called for a permanent ceasefire in the war-battered territory.[6] Israel lashed out at the two prime ministers "for not placing full responsibility for the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas, who massacred our citizens and used the Palestinians as human shields."[8][9] Israeli Foreign MinisterEli Cohen instructed the countries' ambassadors to be summoned for a sharp reprimand, saying "We condemn the false claims of the prime ministers of Spain and Belgium who give support to terrorism."[9]Belgium, along with Spain, Canada, the Netherlands and Japan, have all announced that they will stop sending weapons to Israel.[10]
Israel and Belgium trade is also influenced by the EU - Israel Free Trade Agreement from 1995.[11][12]
 Israel imports
|  Belgium imports
| Total trade value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3857.3 | 1594.3 | 5451.6 |
| 2022 | 4543.4 | 1996.9 | 6540.3 |
| 2021 | 4621.4 | 1974.7 | 6596.1 |
| 2020 | 3426.7 | 1458.3 | 4885 |
| 2019 | 3596.5 | 1636.9 | 5233.4 |
| 2018 | 3823.2 | 2193.5 | 6016.7 |
| 2017 | 4098.9 | 2704.8 | 6803.7 |
| 2016 | 3913.9 | 2507.3 | 6421.2 |
| 2015 | 3275 | 2487 | 5762 |
| 2014 | 3818.4 | 3299.6 | 7118 |
| 2013 | 3823.4 | 3118.3 | 6941.7 |
| 2012 | 3544.9 | 2929.1 | 6474 |
| 2011 | 4465 | 3767.5 | 8232.5 |
| 2010 | 3576.4 | 3116.8 | 6693.2 |
| 2009 | 2567.8 | 2371.8 | 4939.6 |
| 2008 | 4250.3 | 4618.7 | 8869 |
| 2007 | 4454.9 | 4070.8 | 8525.7 |
| 2006 | 3936.9 | 3068.4 | 7005.3 |
| 2005 | 4557.7 | 3679.5 | 8237.2 |
| 2004 | 4130.8 | 2898.1 | 7028.9 |
| 2003 | 3179.9 | 2320.9 | 5500.8 |
| 2002 | 3028.3 | 1863.2 | 4891.5 |
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