Relations between the Netherlands and Israel have entered a turbulent period amid the fallout from the nearly two-year-old war in Gaza and ongoing political instability in the European nation, the heads of the Dutch Israel Allies parliamentary network said this week.
The remarks come as Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel told parliament late on Wednesday, following a vote in favor in the legislature, that the Netherlands will ban import of goods produced in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
The Hague-based legislature previously issued an entry ban for Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in a series of moves taken against the Jewish state ahead of the Oct. 29 general election in the Netherlands.
“People in the Netherlands get their news from left-leaning NGOs, and what they see is only the one-sided view on the difficulty of the people in Gaza,” Dutch MP Chris Stoffer, the leader of the opposition Reformed Political Party, told JNS. “It sounds like they forgot about what happened on October 7.”
The Calvinist politician chairs the Israel Allies Network in the Dutch House of Representatives.
He said that Israel has not succeeded in the “information war,” adding that people think that the boycott will hurt Israelis while it will actually end up harming Palestinians.
Sen. Ruben Baumgarten, who chairs the Israel Allies group in the Dutch Senate, said, “There is a very loud local minority which is actively influencing public opinion along with a media that has a tendency to be run by the left who try to blame Israel for everything.”
He added that like in other countries while most Dutch are ambivalent on the issue, the voice of Israel supporters is being drowned out by the din of the pro-Palestinian activists. “The military strategy is brilliant, but the PR effort might be lost,” Baumgarten said.
Other, more extreme, anti-Israel motions however, including recognizing a “State of Palestine” were rejected by the Dutch parliament.
“I am concerned about the shift of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs against Israel,” said Leo van Doesburg, Europe director of the Israel Allies Foundation. “By its current decisions, the Netherlands risks aligning itself with positions taken by Ireland and Spain.”
He added that it was essential that Israel allies have accurate, fact-based information to combat the misinformation and disinformation being spread.
Josh Reinstein, president of the Israel Allies Foundation, said, “The disheartening decision by the parliament in the Netherlands, which rattled our bilateral ties, only underscores the need to strengthen our network in the Dutch parliament. We will ensure that courage and freedom will win and that the purveyors of panic will lose.”
The Israel Allies Foundation operates a network of faith-based parliamentary caucuses around the world.
