The Netherlands prohibit entry to two Israeli ministers accused of promoting ethnic cleaning in Gaza

Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, two figures of the Israeli far right and current Ministers of Finance and National Security, are now personae non gratae in the Netherlands. The Dutch government prohibits them from entering the territory, accusing them of having fueled the violence of the colonists, supported the illegal expansion of the colonies and pleaded openly for an ethnic cleaning policy in Gaza.

In a letter addressed to the Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Caspar Veldkamp, denounced an “unbearable and unjustifiable” situation in the Gaza Strip, and announced the inscription of the two ministers in the Schengen database of unwanted foreigners. In other words: prohibited from Europe.

This unprecedented decision follows an emergency meeting of the government in The Hague, convened despite the summer break. It reflects the growing exasperation, in Europe as elsewhere, faced with the impunity of Israeli leaders who now assume, without eyeshadow, openly fascinating positions. Dutch diplomacy is considering suspending the commercial aspects of the association agreement between the European Union and Israel in parallel. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof himself informed Israeli President Israeli Herzog of the intention of pushing Brussels to take additional measures.

On the ground, the figures are overwhelming. Nearly 100,000 deaths in Gaza since October 2023, including more than 17,000 children, according to the Palestinian health authorities. Thousands of injured, decimated families, the starving that settles. The current genocide takes place before the eyes of the world, and faced with this carnage, the gesticulations of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich no longer pass. Their radicalism is no longer tolerated, even by some of their Western allies. The Netherlands also released 4.5 million euros in humanitarian aid for Gaza, while stressing that it is now “practically impossible” to grant arms export licenses to Israel in the current context. A strong signal, in a European climate still too often cautious as soon as it is a question of appointing those responsible for the current genocide.