After the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, who invited Benjamin Netanyahu to Budapest, the Dutch far-right leader, Geert Wilders, in turn intends to express his solidarity with the Israeli Prime Minister, an object since November 21, an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV), the main formation of the Dutch government coalition, intends to travel soon to Israel to meet with the man he presents as an ally and one of his friends, at the head of a country that, according to He, declared on Friday, November 22, defends himself against “Barbaric terrorists hiding in hospitals and schools”.
The populist leader, who has already visited Israel fifteen times, plans to visit an Israeli colony on the west bank of the Jordan, although his country considers this occupation illegal. Commenting on the Court’s decision regarding Mr. Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, he wrote in “the world has gone crazy”. He did not comment on the fact that Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’s military wing, reportedly killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, was also targeted by the ICC.
“Whatever his opinion, Mr. Wilders is free to go to Israel. “, commented on Friday Prime Minister Dick Schoof, once again forced to admit a lone rider from the leader of one of the four components of his coalition. The head of Government declared that his country would stop “in principle” Netanyahu if he appeared on Dutch soil, while calling Israel “a friendly nation.”
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The situation in the Netherlands, one of the 124 members of the ICC, is all the more embarrassing since the headquarters of this institution is in The Hague. Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp was scheduled to visit Israel last week. Former ambassador to this country, where he was posted from 2011 to 2015, had to resign due to the hostility shown by the Netanyahu government after the ICC decision. The trip would include a conversation with the prime minister but also a meeting with Palestinian officials.
The trip was also canceled for another reason: a leak, exploited by opposition parties, revealed the details of this trip on Monday, November 18, which would have endangered the minister’s safety, according to his advisors. Therefore, Veldkamp desisted and an investigation is being carried out to determine the origin of this indiscretion, all the more embarrassing for the government since the note revealed by an environmentalist deputy also mentioned a possible sanctions plan against Israel.
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