Liberal International president Hans van Baalen told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Israel should start building ties behind the scenes with Syrian opposition factions. Van Baalen, a Dutch member of the European Parliament in Brussels, heads the London-based Liberal International (LI), a federation of dozens of liberal political parties and organizations around the world. He came to Israel to deliver an address in Tel Aviv sponsored by the Israeli Liberal Group -- a remnant of the old Liberal Party that merged with the Likud in 1973. Van Baalen told Netanyahu that he supported granting Israel observer status in NATO and an upgrade in relations with the EU. Van Baalen's bond with Israel was strengthened by relatives who made aliya after their Jewish father was murdered in the Holocaust.