Holland and the Israeli El Al plane scandal
Israel-Netherlands, Politics, 1/29/1999

On Wednesday, the Dutch parliament started its first investigation sessions concerning the "poisonous gases" which were thought to be carried by a Boeing 747 plane owned by the Israeli El Al company, which crushed near Amsterdam on October 4,1992.

Preparation began by the Dutch parliament at the beginning of this week with the invitation of some 70 witnesses to testify, including 10 Israelis, Americans, several ministers in the previous government including the deputy premier, and the ministers of the interior and transport.

According to documents and reports revealed during the last few weeks, the Dutch parliament will witness several surprises, especially as there is evidence that facts were hidden from the public regarding the real nature of the plane's load as well as negligence and haste in closing the investigation.

Later investigations found that the Israeli said plane carried 240 kg of Meteil material known as (DMMP), which constitutes a basic element in poisonous Sarin gas, the most dangerous among banned gases.

The Israeli embassy in the Hague claimed that the plane was carrying only flowers and recording systems.

Just one week earlier, the Dutch government was obliged to admit another secret that it had previously denied, that a 40-member Israeli team from the Mossad was allowed to inspect the remains of the plane after it had crashed over Belmeir, the special suburb for foreign emigrants. This operation was known as "white suit teams," because the color of the protective suits for nuclear and poisonous debris worn by the Mossad team was white.

The Dutch government was also annoyed by another surprise that came from a Dutch citizen who was very angry over forging facts. This Dutch citizen, who works for El Al, delivered a Dutch parliament member a complete file proving that Israel had forged the documents of the loaded material. The file revealed the existence of two loading documentation copies by which Israeli dealt with the incident.

Lastly, the parliament, which will listen to six or seven testimonies every day, would investigate the number of victims and the mysterious diseases recorded among the victims. Preliminary estimates for the number of victims said that 250 people were killed, but the number, in an official report, increased to 1,580.

At that time the governor of Amsterdam suddenly issued a decision to halt searches for killed people within four days and announced in an official statement that number of the victims was only 43, including four Israelis.

Investigations will also include the said governor, who had become later the minister of the interior in the former Dutch government.

Previous Stories:
  Espionage at the Biological Institute   (9/5/1998)

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