Largest Dutch pensionfund ABP decides not to divest from Israeli banks

Branch office of Bank Leumi in the settlement Oranit. Bank Leumi has similar offices in settlements around Jerusalem and on the Golan and its daughter (for nearly 90%),  Leumi Mortgage Bank, which provides mortgages for houses in the settlements has a branch in the settlement Nofei Zufim  

The largest pension fund of the Netherlands, ABP (short for Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds), announced Wednesday that it does not intend to divest from its investments in Israeli banks. In a press statement it said that it had concluded that they had not done anything contrary to international law or regulations.
ABP has investments in Israel's two largest banks, Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi, and Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot. The pension fund's announcement came several weeks after the second largest Dutch pension fund, PGGM, said it was divesting its holdings in Israel's five largest banks.

ABP's statement reads:

Dutch minister Rosenthal again annoys EU-colleagues with hard line pro-Israel attitude

Rosenthal

Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs Uri Rosenthal annoyed his EU counterparts by not joining in criticism of increasing violence by Israeli settlers on the occupied West Bank, the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad reported on Wednesday.
The annoyance is understandable as it is not the first time Rosenthal obstructs a common European stand on Israel, in fact it is a pattern.  
According to the NRC, Rosenthal decided to  withhold Dutch approval of a secret report by European representatives of the EU in the occupied territories that signaled 'an alarming increase in the violence exercised by settlers'. Apart for formulations in the report that the settlements are illegal and are making a two state solution impossible, it quotes United Nations figures that indicate that incidents involving settler violence increased threefold in 2011 to 411.Rosenthal communicated through his representative in Ramallah that the Netherlands 'placed a general reservation' on the report, which is mentioned under the text. The gesture is quite unusual, as Rosenthal in this way in fact disavows his own diplomat on the spot. Quite a number of eyebrows were raised in Brussels after this last action of the Dutch minister. 'What we observe is the most hard line Dutch attitude ever, an attitude which in essence corresponds with the most hard line viewpoints inside Israel itself,'' the paper quoted a European diplomat. 
As said, Rosenthal put things in the way of a common European stand vis a vis Israel. In September Rosenthal  withheld at the very last minute his approval - it was reported that he instructed his representative in Geneva standing the meeting by iPhone - for a common declaration by the EU in the UN-Human Rights Council in Geneva. It was reported that Rosenthal objected to references in a pre-prepared text, to a two-state solution, arrests of peacefully demonstrating human rights activists and to the destruction of homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In January 2012 NRC-Handelsblad reported that Rosenthal withheld his approval for a common declaration in which the council of European foreign minsters voiced its concern about developments in the so called 'Area C' of the West Bank. As a result of his intervention the text of the declaration was reduced to the rather meaningless observation that 'disturbing developments were taking place'. Area C is the 62% of the West Bank which also contains the settlements. Rosenthal's intervenytion was backed by Italy and the Czech republic. The original text contained among other things observations that the settlements continued to grow and the Palestinian population was diminishing. It stated that  "if current trends are not stopped and reversed, the establishment of a viable Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders seem more remote than ever".

Earlier Rosenthal also put pressure on the Dutch NGO "ICCO'' to end its contribution of 50.000 euro a year to the Internet publication Electronic Intifada, after the hawkish Israeli lobby group 'NGO Monitor' published a number of  accusations (most of them unfounded) against the Electronic Intifada. Rosenthal never took the trouble to investigate the veracity of NGO-Monitor's claims. 
It is noteworthy that Rosenthal made his debut in 2010 as foreign minister in a Dutch cabinet that in the paragraph about foreign policy in its constituent declaration singled out Israel as the one country with which it wanted to strengthen its ties. Israel was also the only country that was mentioned at all in the declaration.  

Netanyahu visits Holland: agreement about regular common meetings of the Dutch and Israeli cabinets

Netanyahu and Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs Uri Rosenthal shake hands.

The Dutch government has realized at least one point from the agreement on the basis of which it was installed in 2010 by Liberals and Christian Democrats with the passive support of Geert Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV), the point that stipulated that Holland would strive to 'strenghten the bond with Israel'.
The wish became reality with the visit on 18 ad 19 January, at the invitation of the Dutch government, of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. It was the first visit by an Israeli PM in 15 years. Netanyahu met  his colleague, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and the ministers Uri Rosenthal (Foreign Affairs) and Maxime Verhagen (Trade). He was also received by Queen Beatrix.
As one of the most concrete results of the visit it was  announced that Israel and the Netherlands will from now on hold yearly joint meetings of the Dutch and Israeli cabinets. The Netherlands joined the club in this respect: Israel already has similar agreements with Germany, Poland and Italy (countries that like Holland regularly vote against common EU-positions when they tend to be somewhat critical towards Israel, AbuP.)  
With Trade minister Verhagen it was agreed that a trade mission will soon visit Israel to increase mutual trade. Holland and Israel are important trade partners. Holland exported goods worth about 1 billion euros to Israel last year (mainly trucks and electrical appliances) and imported for 2.1 billion  (mainly medicine, computers and fruit). The Netherlands is Israel's second most important export destination in Europe.

In a speech for the Dutch Jewish community on Wednesday evening in the 17th century Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, Netanyahu stressed that there is much in common between the Dutch and Israeli positions. In fact he made it clear that his visit was partly to thank the Netherlands for the positions it recently took in international fora. "The one issue in which we stand together is in opposing Iran's nuclear ambitions," he said to loud applause. He called Iran's nuclear programme "the greatest threat to Israel, the  region and the world and thanked the Dutch government for its 'strong stance on sanctions against Iran'.

A small number of people protested in front of the synagogue.

Other points that Netanyahu and Israeli officials mentioned, were the Dutch vote against the admittance of the Palestine to UNESCO, the rejection of the Goldstone report critical of the 'Cast Lead Operation' in Gaza in 2008-2009, Dutch opposition towards the Palestinian bid to be accepted as a member-state of the UN and the stance that Holland recently took against a common EU position in the UN-Human Rights Council.
So actueally it could be said that Netanyahu came to thank the Dutch for its anti-Palestinian stand. Geert Wilder's party, which had ties with the most radical parties in Israel like Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu and the National Union, can be quite satisfied. The same goes for minister Rosenthal who is by far the most Israel-friendly minister Holland has ever had. Rosenthal last year discarded a tradition of decades during which advocacy for human rights was one of the strongest pillars of Dutch foreign policy by saying that fo him it was not the number one issue, but that safety and stability in the world came first. (Interview in de Volkskrant, Dutch)