Defence Minister faces no-confidence motion over Israel visit

Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen will face a no-confidence motion in the parliament on Friday due to his recent visit to Israel and holding meeting with Defence Minister of the country Katz.

The parliament is going to hold the no-confidence motion following demands from the opposition lawmakers during a general debate on Tuesday, said the Parliament in a press release.

Vihreä Liitto (Green League) lawmaker Atte Harjanne in his speech said that Häkkänen´s activities during the visit to Israel was contradictory to the foreign policy of Finland and his party believes that Häkkänen lost his trust to continue as the Minister.

Harjanne placed the no-confidence motion, which was also supported by Vasemmistoliitto (Left Alliance) lawmaker Minja Koskela and Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland-SDP) lawmaker Tytti Tuppurainen.

Koskela strongly criticised the Israeli attacks in Gaza and the visit of the Finnish Defense Minister to Israel.

Tuppurainen also criticised the disagreement among the ruling parties regarding Israeli settlements, trade restrictions on Israel and recognition of the state of Palestine and demanded a no-confidence motion against the whole government in addition to the Defence Minister.

She also said that Häkkäsen's trip to Israel must be assessed as part of Finland's broader Middle East policy.

SDP lawmaker Jani Kokko expressed solidarity with the proposals placed by Tuppurainen.

The Parliament is likely to hold the no-confidence motions against Häkkänen and the government in the plenary session at 1:00 p.m. on Friday.

Earlier, Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen visited Lebanon and Israel from 13 to 18 September.

In Israel, Minister Häkkänen met Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz. Häkkänen learned about Finland’s future air defence system, David’s Sling, as well as about Israeli civil defence solutions, according to a government press release issued on September 18.

He also visited companies producing systems that have been procured for the Finnish Defence Forces.