On social media governing Flemish Christian democrat leader Sammy Mahdi has lashed out sharply at his federal coalition partners over the Belgian government's attitude towards Israel. The CD&V chair accuses some of them of hypocrisy for not doing enough to end the genocidal violence in Gaza."Therefore sanctions are necessary," he writes."I do not want to go down in history as a collaborator." Flemish socialist coalition partner Vooruit points the finger at Francophone liberal MR and urges swift action.

Mr Mahdi says that he has been fed up with what he calls the ‘hypocritical attitude’ of some government parties for months. While children in Gaza are dying of hunger, relief supplies are under fire and there is open talk of concentration camps for the remaining Palestinians, Belgium’s political nerve centre remains silent, he notes.

He calls it ‘humanly untenable’ to remain silent and argues that the Christian Democratic values he stands for are in conflict with current Belgian policy. Every day, he writes, ‘with a lump in my throat’ he has to watch how ethics give way to political calculation.

He complains that every proposal from his party, ranging from import bans to suspension of the association agreement with Israel, is systematically rebuffed. ‘We remain close friends with a regime that repeats what happened to the Jewish people themselves 80 years ago,’ Mr Mahdi writes.

Call for sanctions

In the second part of his message, Mr Mahdi stresses that any international resolution criticising Israel is systematically weakened. Terms like ‘genocide’ or ‘military attack’ are replaced by legal euphemisms, he argues, invariably referring to Israel's right to self-defence.

Still, Mr Mahdi believes Belgium has a role to play:"Our little country may not be able to stop Israel, but it can be a catalyst." He calls for a vote on MP Els Van Hoof's bill introducing an import ban on products from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

In one of the most poignant passages, Mr Mahdi states that he would not be able to look himself in the mirror later on if he does nothing now. He does not want to have to explain to his children that he ‘sat and watched children die of hunger and people being shot dead at relief points’.

Finally, he acknowledges that politics is a lot like a game of stratego, ‘with a pinch of Machiavelli’. But, Mr Mahdi says, he too is hitting moral boundaries."Something has to be done," is his clear final message to his colleagues in government.

Mr Mahdi's posts, with a strikingly confrontational front page of Britain's Daily Express newspaper in the background, threaten to reignite tensions within the federal government. The CD&V has been increasingly vocal about the Israeli attacks in Gaza in recent months. The other governing parties have so far reacted more cautiously, putting internal relations in the 5-way federal government under pressure.

Prime Minister Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist N-VA) is not engaging in the strong statements on Israel policy by CD&V chair Sammy Mahdi."I lead a government, I'm not going to react to what people like party leaders put online," he said."Some are very good at that, but that doesn't make my day. My focus is on reaching agreements among key ministers. I have enough work as it is." Mr De Wever stressed that he would not get carried away by ‘noise in the outside world’.

Flemish socialist leader Rousseau: 'MR must stop resistance to humanity'

Flemish socialist federal coalition partner Vooruit also thinks the government should act more forcefully in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ‘It has become untenable,’ Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau told news agency Belga.

While Mr Mahdi denounces the ‘hypocritical attitude’ of some governing parties without naming names, Mr Rousseau points the finger at Georges-Louis Bouchez's French-speaking liberals."MR must stop its opposition to humanity. This goes beyond all party-political boundaries,‘ Mr Rousseau said.

Vooruit group leader Oskar Seuntjens also shares Mr Mahdi's reproach about the ’hypocritical attitude" of some government parties."Many people recognise this feeling, I think. The attitude of some cannot be called anything but hypocritical and cowardly. If it depends on us, more needs to happen quickly at both Belgian and European level," Mr Seuntjens said.