Caretaker prime minister Dick Schoof is not ruling out the Netherlands asking for EU sanctions to be imposed on two far-right Israeli ministers for incitement to extremist violence and violation of Palestinian human rights.
Earlier this week, Britain, Canada, Norway, Australia and New Zealand jointly imposed sanctions on ministers Itamar Ben Gvir (national security) and Bezalel Smotrich (finance).
The sanctions include a travel ban and a freeze of any assets, or financial dealings the two may have in any of the countries.
Opposition MPs have asked Schoof to “put the case’” for including the two ministers on the EU sanctions list. Schoof did not immediately reject the request and said the cabinet will decide on the matter in the next few days.
Caretaker foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp was quoted by NOS as saying the European Foreign Affairs Council must discuss the matter first because a Dutch preference for sanctions “may cause division within the union”. The council is meeting at the end of this month.
Both the United States secretary of state Marco Rubio and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have condemned the sanctions.
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