By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Seeking support for an upgrade of ties with the European Union, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Deputy Minister Danny Ayalon left on Sunday for a five-day visit to Denmark and the Netherlands.
When Ehud Olmert was prime minister, the European Union promised to upgrade its ties with Israel.
The EU first delayed that upgrade during Operation Cast Lead in January, and continued to delay it when the peace process stalled after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took office on March 31.
Israel already enjoys one of the closet possible relationship with the EU of any non-member state, but has sought to improve its status with the union.
Lieberman and Ayalon also plan to talk with members of both governments about the Iranian and Syrian violations of UN Security Council resolutions as well as the shipment of Iranian arms bound for Hizbullah that the Israel Navy intercepted last week.
The two ministers will also speak of the need to continue opposition to the Goldstone Report, which accuses Israel of war crimes during its military offensive in Gaza last winter.
The Netherlands voted against last week's endorsement of the report by the UN General Assembly. Denmark abstained.
In Copenhagen, Lieberman will meet with Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller, Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen, other lawmakers and members of the local Jewish community.
The foreign minister will also take part in a ceremony at the memorial site for the Jews of Denmark who were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he will lay a wreath in their memory.
In The Hague, Lieberman will meet with Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, President of the House of Representatives Gerdi Verbeet, and members of the Dutch Jewish community.
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