Dutch foreign minister quits over Israel sanctions dispute

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp announced on Friday that he will resign due to a lack of consensus within the Dutch government on the imposition of further sanctions on Israel. Veldkamp’s initiative to impose new sanctions on Israeli political leaders was blocked by other members of the government, Dutch media reported on Friday.

While the government agreed to impose an import ban on goods from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), Veldkamp reportedly dismissed the diplomatic move as insufficient.

"I'm going home now and I'm going to write my resignation letter," Veldkamp stated, according to De Telegraf.

“I felt resistance in the cabinet against more measures as a result of what is happening in Gaza City and the occupied West Bank at the moment,” he later added.

Like many Western governments, the Netherlands has voiced growing opposition to Israel’s military operations against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip. While Hamas has been accused of using civilians as human shields and obstructing humanitarian aid, much of the international community continues to place primary responsibility for the humanitarian crisis on Israel.

Last month, the Dutch government banned two Israeli right-wing coalition members – National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – from entering the country, declaring both persona non grata.

Veldkamp defended the move, arguing that the two had “repeatedly incited violence by settlers against the Palestinian population and… called for ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.” In response, Ben Gvir and Smotrich accused the Netherlands of appeasing and rewarding Hamas.

The Dutch news outlet NRC claimed that House of Representatives Parliament Member Eric van der Burg was “flabbergasted” by Veldkamp’s decision to resign. The move triggered a domino effect, with Social Affairs Minister Eddy van Hijum, Interior Minister Judith Uitermark, Education Minister Eppo Bruins, and Health Minister Daniëlle Jansen also stepping down. All four ministers belong to the centrist New Social Contract (NSC) party.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof voiced concern over the resignations of Veldkamp and the other ministers, calling the departures regrettable.

“We must respect these decisions, but we deeply regret them,” he told the House of Representatives, noting the added strain during the Cabinet’s caretaker phase.

Turning to the Gaza conflict, Schoof said, “We’ve been intensively considering current developments in Gaza. The ever-deteriorating situation there is dramatic. Everyone is aware of that.”

Anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre in 2023. Dutch news site Jonet recently reported that local Muslims attacked two Israeli tourists at the De Kempervennen water park.

In a separate incident last November, 10 Israeli soccer fans were injured in the capital, Amsterdam, when a mob attacked them following a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch club Ajax – an attack widely condemned as an antisemitic pogrom.

Notably, in December 2024, the Netherlands became the first European Union nation to vote in favor of phasing out aid to UNRWA, citing the UN relief agency's links to terrorism.