The Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp wrote in a letter around May 6 to the European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas stating that the Netherlands would veto any renewal of the EU trade agreements with Israel over the issues of genocide in Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank, according to Politico. The EU is the biggest trading partner with Israel and the Dutch government has been seen as one of the most loyal allies of Israel. It was often the Dutch that defended this same EU trade agreement from earlier criticism from Ireland and Spain.
This current EU/Israel trade agreement was first signed in 2000, but Article 2 demands a respect for human rights and democratic principles. Veldkamp wrote, “I withhold the support of the Netherlands for extending the EU-Israel Action Plan pending a review of Article 2.”
