Netherlands bars 2 hardline Israeli ministers
AMSTERDAM : The Netherlands has declared two hardline Israeli ministers, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as persona non grata, the government said.
'They repeatedly incited settler violence against Palestinians, promoted illegal settlement expansion, and called for ethnic cleansing in Gaza,' Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp told parliament in a letter released late yesterday.
In June, the Netherlands backed a Swedish proposal to impose EU sanctions on the far-right Israeli ministers, but the initiative failed to gain unanimous support in the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
Smotrich said in a post on X that European leaders had surrendered to 'the lies of radical Islam that is taking over' and the 'rising antisemitism'.
Ben-Gvir said he would continue to act for Israel, even if they ban him from entering 'all of Europe'.
'In a place where terrorism is tolerated and terrorists are welcomed, a Jewish minister from Israel is unwanted, terrorists are free, and Jews are boycotted,' he wrote.
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