“I don’t understand why [Geert Wilders] tolerates this growing antisemitic governmental course,” a former lawmaker for his party said.
Akiva Van Koningsveld
By Akiva Van Koningsveld
Geert Wilders, whose right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) won a landslide victory in the Netherlands’ 2023 election and secured the most ministerial portfolios in coalition talks that ended earlier this month, has called on Israel to “annex Judea and Samaria.” He has also urged the Dutch government to close its “pointless” diplomatic post in Ramallah.
However, two weeks into his new coalition, some pro-Israel voices say that Wilders’ decision to form an extra-parliamentary government with the centrist People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and New Social Contract Party has forced the PVV to forsake some of its past positions.
“Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp welcomes the new European persecution of Jews, now targeting assertive Jews defending themselves in the Jewish Land of Israel,” Wim Kortenoeven, who served as an MP for Wilders’ party between 2010 and 2012, tweeted on Tuesday.
“I don’t understand why [Wilders] tolerates this growing antisemitic governmental course,” the former PVV foreign policy expert concluded.
Kortenoeven was referring to a post in which Veldkamp, the country’s top diplomat on behalf of the New Social Contract Party, welcomed European sanctions against Israel’s Tzav 9 anti-Hamas protest group.
Former PVV lawmaker Reinette Klever has been serving alongside Veldkamp in the Foreign Ministry as a minister-without-portfolio in charge of foreign trade and development aid on behalf of Wilders’ party.
Kortenoeven, who has since moved to the hills of Samaria, told JNS that he was “not optimistic” regarding the new coalition’s direction and alleged that the junior coalition partners “effectively run the show.”
Wilders “evidently can’t share political responsibility for what is clearly a disproportionate and even antisemitic E.U. witch hunt on Jews living in Judea and Samaria,” the former lawmaker said. “He may be able to compromise on domestic issues, but this issue is part of his very soul.
The EU has adopted a second EU sanctions package against violent settlers in the West Bank. The Netherlands has advocated for this, together with European partners: https://t.co/7LWoEkzR8V
— Caspar Veldkamp (@ministerBZ) July 15, 2024
“Wilders has always stressed that Jordan is Palestine and that Judea and Samaria should be recognized as part of Israel because these territories were allotted to the Jewish people for exclusive settlement in the San Remo agreement. As such, Wilders is right that denying Jews that right is a violation of international law,” the Dutch-Israeli politician added.
Kortenoeven also noted that on July 10, the Dutch representative office to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah issued a statement expressing “dismay” over the demolition of an illegal structure in Area C of Judea, where the Israel Defense Forces maintains full civil and security control.
It accused Israel of razing a “donor-funded school [that]provided education to many children from vulnerable backgrounds” and called on Jerusalem to “uphold the right to education for Palestinian children.”
An IDF spokesman told JNS that the “enforcement operation” was only carried out after judges ruled that the school “had acted culpably after being warned and even receiving orders instructing [its builders]to cease work.”
The P.A. school, the construction of which started late last year, was reportedly only destroyed after the Palestinian academic year ended on July 1.
Kortenoeven explained in his conversation with JNS, “Israel alone is responsible for all governmental activities in Area C. The Netherlands and the European Union are illegally building schools and other buildings there, in blatant violation of the Oslo II agreements to which the European Union is a party.”
All children have a right to education. The Netherlands shares dismay of like-minded missions that Israeli forces demolished a school on 8 July in Khallet Amera, in the Hebron Governerate. The donor funded school provided education to many children from vulnerable backgrounds.1/2 pic.twitter.com/BEgXgkxrCn
— Netherlands???????? Rep office in Ramallah (@NLinPalTer) July 10, 2024
A Dutch pro-Israeli lawmaker who spoke with JNS on the condition of anonymity also attacked the government’s positions, going as far as saying that Wilders had failed to stand firm on Israel in the negotiations.
Leo van Doesburg, Europe director of the Israel Allies Foundation, said that the group was “very surprised” by the Dutch government’s moves.
“At a time when radical Islamic terrorist organizations are aiming for the extermination of the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, it is remarkable that the minister of foreign affairs continues to attack Jewish inhabitants of Judea and Samaria,” Doesburg told JNS on Wednesday.
“We are particularly surprised that such actions are coming from a government that has historically been pro-Israel,” he continued, noting that Veldkamp recently promised to refrain from making “grand statements and proclamations” regarding the Jewish state.
“This message and the implementation of more sanctions strongly contradict each other,” Doesburg stressed in his response to JNS.
Roger van Oordt, who led the Netherlands’ Christians for Israel until 2020 and now serves as Israel’s honorary consul, said the statements had surprised him, in particular given Veldkamp’s insistence that “quiet diplomacy could achieve more than lecturing Israel publicly.”
At the same time, he noted, “The first motion that New Social Contract submitted in November was against Israel, so that didn’t bode well.”
Van Oordt added, “The framing and shaming of Judea and Samaria Jews, who are victims of the violence of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with Iran as their inspiration and facilitator, is beyond comprehension.”
An inquiry by JNS to the PVV asking the party to respond to the Dutch MFA’s statements went unanswered as of press time on Thursday. The Hague’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to comment on the criticism, instead referring JNS to statements issued by the previous government.
Israel is our dear friend and ally.
The only democracy in the Middle East. Fighting for the existence of the Jewish homeland.
And to the terrorists of Hamas and radical Palestinian factions I say: if you start a war, don’t complain if you lose it. #Israel pic.twitter.com/xucWJYShtN
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) June 23, 2024
Wilders lived in Israel for two years during his youth and has visited the country more than 40 times. After he graduated from secondary school, he spent a year as a volunteer at Moshav Tomer in the Jordan Valley.
He has been an outspoken proponent of Israeli sovereignty over the disputed territories, having said only recently that “there has been an independent Palestinian state since 1946: the Kingdom of Jordan.”
On Nov. 4, the right-wing politician wrote on X: “Israel is fighting for its existence. Against the forces of hate, barbarism and terrorism. No Israeli wants unnecessary civilians to be killed. But Hamas needs to be eliminated. We have to fully support Israel and the Jewish people!”
In 2018, Wilders tweeted, “The more Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria the better for that land is Jewish—and Jordan is Palestine!”
The Dutch government supported by Wilders’ PVV—which is headed by Prime Minister Dick Schoof, an independent who once led the country’s national intelligence agency—has agreed to study the possibility of moving the Dutch embassy in Israel from Ramat Gan to Jerusalem.