Belgian daily slammed for criticism of prince’s Israel visit

Jewish organizations have slammed an article in Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir on last week’s private visit of Prince Laurent of Belgium to Israel which, they say, ''is akin to a new demonisation of the State of Israel”, reports EJP’s Yossi Lempkowicz.  Prince Laurent visited Tuesday and Wednesday Israel as quest of KKL-JNF, the main Jewish environmental organisation in the world. He  received a diploma for his green initiatives and planted a tree in the so-called Forest of Belgium near Jerusalem. KKL-JNF has planted over 230 million trees on more than 100,000 hectares and continues to plant 3 million trees per year. This NGO is also active in the field of water,  agriculture, research on climate change and the fight against desertification. But the visit sparked controversy in Belgium. In the article in  Le Soir, KKL is described as "a Zionist group which is subject to criticism for exploiting the villages deserted by the Palestinians.” In a statement, CCOJB, the umbrella representative group of Jewish organizations in Belgium, and the European Jewish Congress (EJC) have strongly condemned what they call “an attack against the reforestation in Israel and the Prince’s visit,'' recalling that several leaders from Belgium have in the past planted trees in the country. “Moreover, the visit was agreed with the foreign minister Didier Reynders,” they added. "For the record, KKL-JNF is an organisation that has allowed Israel to reforest swamps and deserts across the country and continues its mission of planting trees," denouncing this ''attack against Israel'' and the newspaper's ‘’militant attitude in delegitimising’’ the Jewish State ‘’in total defiance with journalistic ethics.’’

In a press release, Prince Laurent, who is  president of the Royal Institute for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and the Promotion of Clean Technologies, regretted that "the work of many people of good faith is denatured" and denounced the raising of "imaginary problems." He also said he has been ‘’discredited for over 25 years by some people whose motivation is not necessarily within the best interests of the state.’’ He further specified that  during his visit he met with Jewish, Arab and Christian ‘’whose work is systematically ignored by those who feel they must interfere in the normal and transparent course of the work [by the Prince abroad].’’