Jewish groups call for De Gucht to step down

March 28, 2020 / By mobanmarket

Jewish groups call for De Gucht to step down

The European commissioner for trade is still in trouble after interview slur.

Karel De Gucht faces continuing calls for his resignation over controversial remarks about Jews despite attempts by the European commissioner for trade and the European Commission to put the episode behind them.

In an interview that the Belgian newspaper Le Soir published yesterday (8 September), Maurice Sosnowski, the head of the co-ordination committee of Belgium’s Jewish organisations, called on José Manuel Barroso, the Commission president, to sack De Gucht if he did not resign.

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Interview slur

Quizzed by a Belgian radio station last Thursday (2 September) on the prospects for peace in the Middle East, De Gucht, a former Belgian foreign minister, said it was “not easy to have, even with moderate Jews, a rational discussion about what is actually happening in the Middle East”.

“There is indeed a belief…among most Jews that they are right,” he said.

He went on to talk about the Jewish lobby in the United States and its capacity to scupper the ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

De Gucht (pictured) was forced to declare on Friday (3 September) that the comments were not meant to cause offence and reflected his personal opinion only.

“I regret that the comments that I made have been interpreted in a sense that I did not intend,” he said in a statement. “I did not mean in any possible way to cause offence or stigmatise the Jewish community.”

A Commission spokesperson said yesterday that Barroso viewed the incident as “closed” after receiving “reassurance” from De Gucht.