Herzog will give an address before the European Parliament to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday.
https://www.jpost.com/-By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog meets with Belgium’s King Phillippe in Brussels, on January 25, 2022(photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
President Isaac Herzog landed in Brussels on Wednesday morning to meet with international leaders and discuss the Iranian nuclear threat and Israelis being held captive by Hamas, ahead of his planned speech before the European Parliament on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Herzog began his visit at the Royal Palace of Brussels where he was received by King Philippe, who was praised by the Israeli president for the “warm attitude” of the kingdom toward Belgium’s Jewish communities.
“One of the main events on International Holocaust Remembrance Day is a session of the European Parliament, which represents the nations of Europe,” said Herzog on the tarmac before taking off early Wednesday morning. “I will have the privilege of appearing before the Parliament and to speak for the State of Israel, the democratic, strong, nation-state of the Jewish People, which extends its hand in peace.”
“I will tell the story of the Holocaust’s victims and survivors. I will be moved to think that eighty years ago, nobody could have imagined that the head of a state of the Jewish People would stand before a European parliament and mark the most terrible event in the history of humanity.
Herzog to meet with local, international leaders in Belgium
Herzog is set to meet with European and Belgian leaders and the local Jewish community in Belgium, as well as with NATO.
Herzog will proceed to meet with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and visit the Great Synagogue of Europe. The president will then visit the Athénée Ganenou Jewish school.
“At all these places, I shall of course raise the enormous challenge facing us and the whole Middle East in the form of Iran, which is racing toward nuclear weapons, using terror throughout the Middle East, and supplying weapons used against the Ukrainian people,” said the president. “I shall also raise the issue of the hostages and MIAs, our sons, whom we call for Hamas to release immediately and return to Israel. Thank you very much.”
On Thursday, Herzog will visit the European Parliament and deliver the main address at a special plenary session marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Later in the day, he will meet NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and representatives of NATO member-states.