The Dutch government’s main advisory body on Monday asked the Cabinet to submit a plan on how to “effectively enforce” a proposed ban on importing Jewish-made goods from Judea, Samaria and the Golan, which would carry a six-year prison sentence for violators.
The Council of State made the request in a document published in response to a government plan announced in May and submitted to the Council of State for comment. The move is widely seen as a step toward the implementation of the ban, possibly sometime this year.
The document, an advisory note, appears to ignore legal and moral arguments raised against the ban by Dutch Jews, Christians and major political parties. The note says the ban is “in line with the constitution” and European legislation and recommends hammering out a plan to overcome practical labeling and provenance challenges, and to expand the ban to Dutch protectorates of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten.
The note also asks the government to say why it did not submit the proposed ban to the Dutch government’s online public consultation platform for proposed laws, regulations and government policies, which allows anyone—citizens, businesses, NGOs, academics and foreign organizations—to submit comments before legislation is finalized.
Critics of the proposed ban said they viewed the advisory note as a step toward the implementation of the ban, whose draft prescribes up to six years in prison to whoever violates the ban or tries to circumvent it.
Ronny Naftaniel, a former leader of the Central Jewish Board of the Netherlands, pointed out that eastern Jerusalem, where many Arab Israelis and other Palestinians live, would fall under the proposed ban.
“If I buy spices in the Old City of Jerusalem labeled ‘Made in Israel,’ I could get years in jail, according to the Dutch government’s new sanctions. If I defraud someone, I might get four years in prison max. Who thinks this is just?” Naftaniel wrote on Facebook.
The proposed prison sentence appeared in the Dutch government’s addendum to the ban proposal. The Council of State did not challenge the proposed punishment in its advisory note.
Roger van Oordt, a former leader of the Christians for Israel group, suggested the ban was antisemitic, telling JNS: “If you buy from the 900,000 Jews of Judea, Samaria and the Golan, you risk six years in prison and you’re a serious criminal” under the proposed ban.
As Israel’s enemies wage war on Israel, “The Netherlands introduces sanctions that have little economic weight, but send out a painful and powerful message,” van Oordt wrote in an op-ed on the Christians for Israel website. Founded by his father, Karel, in the 1970s, the Christians for Israel group is currently run by Roger van Oordt’s brother Frank J. van Oordt, who has also condemned the proposed ban.
“We [Dutch people] like to think of ourselves as morally enlightened; we’re convinced that we’re doing the right thing. But honesty demands a different question: Do we truly see what is happening? My answer is no—most certainly not. The same forces of arrogance, falsehood and envy toward the Jewish people are once again manifesting themselves in an unprecedented hatred of Israel,” added van Oordt, who is Israel’s honorary consul in the Netherlands.
A ban would have little impact on bilateral trade with the Netherlands, where goods from Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan constitute a minute fraction.
It would, however, impact the Israel Products Center, a business affiliated with the Christians for Israel organization. It is the largest Dutch importer of products from Judea and Samaria.
Under the ban, IPC may need to stop importing around 20,000 wine bottles from Judea, Samaria or the Golan. These bottles, bought for about €100,000 ($116,000), constitute the bulk of IPC’s imports from those regions, which account for 3-5% of IPC’s imports overall, said van Oordt.
The Dutch government has targeted Christians for Israel since 2019 in an effort to limit the group’s purchases from Judea and Samaria.
Last month, Norway announced a ban on goods from Judea, Samaria and the Golan. Spain, Belgium and Slovenia announced such a ban last year. Slovenia has since canceled the ban. In Ireland’s parliament, a bill to ban those products is being worked on.
