Jerusalem, 29 July, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich accused the Dutch government of “surrendering to the lies of radical Islam” on Tuesday morning after the Netherlands declared him and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir persona non grata, barring them from entering the country. The ban is part of a series of Dutch measures aimed at pressuring Israel over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Dutch Foreign Minister Kaspar Veldkamp explained the move in a letter to Parliament, claiming that both ministers had “repeatedly incited violence by settlers against the Palestinian population” and had even “called for ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.” Veldkamp also cited their support for settlement expansion in Judea and Samaria. Local media reported that the Israeli ambassador would be summoned over the decision, and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said his government would support excluding Israel from the EU’s Horizon Europe research program.
Smotrich fired back in a series of tweets, declaring that his top concern is not international access, but Israel’s long-term survival. “Far more than it matters to me to enter the Netherlands, it matters to me that my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and those of all the Jews in the world, can live in the state of israel in security for decades and centuries to come,” he tweeted.
Slamming Europe’s moral authority, Smotrich added, “In the Netherlands and Europe in general, Jews did not live in security at the beginning of the last century… and judging by the European hypocrisy, the surrender of its leaders to the lies of radical Islam… Jews will not be able to live there in security in the future either.”
Ben-Gvir accused Europe of siding with terrorists. “Even if I’m banned from all of Europe, I’ll keep working for our country and demanding that we topple Hamas and back our fighters,” he tweeted. “Our enemies are violent, murderous rapists. But in Europe… the one who goes on the offensive is guilty. In a place where terrorism is tolerated and terrorists are welcome, a Jewish minister from Israel is unwelcome. Terrorists are free and Jews are boycotted.”
The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday began airdropping humanitarian aid and instituted daily “tactical pauses” in Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. These pauses, coordinated with the United Nations and other international groups, are designed to allow safe passage for aid convoys delivering food and medicine.
The military added that secure humanitarian corridors would remain in place between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., and emphasized its willingness to scale up humanitarian efforts as needed.
“There is no starvation in Gaza,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday at a conference of evangelical Christians in Jerusalem. “We will continue to fight until we achieve the release of our hostages and the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities. They shall be there no more.”
At least 1,180 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 50 remaining hostages, around 30 are believed to be dead.
Related Topics
