The city of Liège, Belgium passed a motion on Monday evening to boycott Israel, The Brussels Times reported.
The motion was presented to the municipal council by the far-left Marxist Workers' Party of Belgium, whose platform calls for a boycott of the Jewish State, along with other smaller local parts who also are in favour of a boycott.
Centrist and liberal parties on the council voted against the motion.
The measure calls for "a temporary suspension of all relations with the state of Israel and the institutions that are complicit until the Israeli authorities put an end to the systematic violation of the Palestinian people,” Le Soir reported.
The motion was seen as largely symbolic as the city has no current official ties to Israel or its Belgian embassy. But it blocks any future relations between Liège and Israel.
The decision was denounced by the Israeli Embassy, with Ambassador Idit Rosenzweig-Abu telling LeSoir that the measure was “regrettable.”
“Radical forces have managed, through lies, to influence the Liège Municipal Council so that it takes a decision so detached from reality and harmful to the economic interests of Liège, Israel and Palestinians themselves," Rosenzweig-Abu said.
It was praised by the Belgian Palestinian Association, according to the Times. The organization called it a “historic decision” and said that it hoped the boycott would “inspire other municipalities in Belgium, Europe and around the world not to help or assist an apartheid regime.”
The council’s decision to boycott Israel came months after Barcelona’s city council decided to sever ties with its twin city Tel Aviv and break off relations with Israel in early February.
The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain said Barcelona’s decision had “nothing to do with politics or human rights or peace” but was an example of “sophisticated antisemitism.”