THE HAGUE - The Netherlands is dithering on imposing sanctions on Israeli Ministers and organizations, RTL Nieuws reports from confidential documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the documents, diplomats paint a very bleak picture of the situation in Gaza, calling it “unprecedented in terms of human suffering” and speaking of “starvation” and “17,000 children wandering around without guardians.”
The diplomats also write that the violence of Israeli settlers is at its “highest point in years.” And Israel “continues to paralyze the economy” in the West Bank. Travel restrictions make it “impossible” for Palestinians to work in Israel and “unprofitable” to trade with the state. The Palestinian authorities are almost bankrupt. Aid from the European Union “helps keep their heads above water, but no more than that,” the diplomats wrote. The Gaza economy is “on the verge of death” and almost every single resident is below the poverty line.
European Union member states have been arguing for months about possible sanctions against two Israeli Ministers - Itamar Ben-Gvir (National Security) and Bezalel Smotrich (Finance) - and organizations that support Israeli settlers, like Smotrich’s Revagim. The Dutch government is open to considering sanctions against Revagim, but not against the Ministers, the documents show.
The two Ministers are both settlers themselves and are considered “ultra-nationalists” and extremists within the Israeli Cabinet, according to the diplomats. They both live in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and are very active in settler movements. Ben-Gvir gave thousands of assault rifles to settlers last year. Both attended a special conference on recolonizing Gaza, titled Preparing to settle Gaza, a few weeks ago.
According to the diplomats, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is against colonizing Gaza, but the two Ministers have gained a lot of power within the government in recent months. The Netanyahu government has a narrow majority and cannot afford to lose their support. “Netanyahu can continue to insist that he has both hands on the wheel, but his extreme right coalition partners dictate the route,” the diplomats wrote.
In the meantime, the European Union member states can’t agree on sanctions. Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Romania are against sanctions saying they would “provoke” Israel and “alienate” relationships, making the EU’s “mediating role more difficult.”
Countries like France, Ireland, Poland, Slovenia, Portugal, and Belgium support introducing sanctions, arguing that the Israeli Ministers are standing in the way of a ceasefire with their inflammatory language and insistence on illegally settling Palestinian territory.
The Dutch Cabinet supports sanctions against the organization Revagim, but has not yet agreed to sanctions against the Ministers, the documents show.
Minister Caspar Veldkamp of Foreign Affairs is in a difficult position. The largest coalition party, far-right PVV, is firmly on Israel’s side of this disaster. PVV leader Geert Wilders openly supports politicians like Ben-Gvir and is even planning a visit to an illegal Israeli settlement next month.
