Crisis in the Dutch interim government over 'sanctions on Israel': 9 ministers resign at once.

23.08.2025 06:05

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp resigned from his position after his request to increase sanctions against Israel was blocked by coalition partners. Following Veldkamp's resignation, 9 more ministers from his party, the New Social Contract Party, left the interim government.

The temporary government in the Netherlands was shaken by the 'Israel' crisis.

REQUEST TO INCREASE SANCTIONS BLOCKED, 9 MINISTERS RESIGNED

Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, whose request to increase sanctions against Israel was blocked by coalition partners, resigned from his position. Following this development, 9 more ministers from the New Social Contract Party, to which Veldkamp belongs, left the temporary government.

"WE CAN NO LONGER TOLERATE"

NSC Chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Eddy van Hijum, who is also the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the temporary government, announced his party's decision to withdraw from the cabinet, stating, "In short, we can no longer tolerate." Van Hijum said in a statement to reporters that the NSC group, along with other ministers in the government, decided to "follow the stance of our Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp."

"THERE WAS NO REAL WILL TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST ISRAEL"

Van Hijum expressed that they relied on Veldkamp's experience regarding what steps should be taken on the Israel-Palestine issue, saying, "We trust him a lot. He found no space today, and this makes it impossible for us to continue." In response to the question of which coalition partners did not give space to Veldkamp, Van Hijum answered, "From the other two coalition partners," referring to the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Farmer-Citizen Movement Party (BBB) in the temporary coalition.

Van Hijum stated that Israel has violated many international agreements, saying, "There was no real willingness to take action against the Israeli government's measures that violate international agreements and humanitarian war law in response to the increasingly deteriorating situation."

SANCTIONS AGAINST THE SETTLEMENT PLAN

Van Hijum emphasized that "very clear measures" should be taken against Israel's new settlement plan, continuing: "This plan is completely contrary to international agreements and truly pushes the two-state solution far away. According to our assessment, it is also contrary to the government program we accepted. The most critical issue in the discussions in the parliament is the Israeli settlement policy and the consequences of trade relations with illegal Israeli settlements for the Netherlands. It has been discussed for a long time, and it was important to be able to do something at the national level on this issue. When it takes a long time to take action at the European level and nothing is done, the minister (Veldkamp) had to take action on behalf of the government due to his own responsibility. He did not feel this space, nor did we."

THE TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT IN THE NETHERLANDS

In the Netherlands, the government continued its duties as a temporary government with three parties after the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders withdrew his party from the coalition on June 3 due to disagreements over immigration policies. The NSC, which left the coalition, was represented in the temporary government by 1 deputy prime minister, 3 ministers, and 4 state ministers.