The resignation of Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp on Friday, followed by a stunning cascade of nine additional government ministers and state secretaries, has exposed a fundamental question about the Netherlands’ priorities and governing competence.
When Veldkamp announced, “I’m going home now and I’m going to write my resignation letter” after failing to secure support for new sanctions against Israel, he triggered a question worthy of asking: should the minister of a foreign country resign over an Israel-related issue? Are we that important on the global stage that a European foreign minister feels he needs to step down from government?
To clarify, the Netherlands is heading to an October election anyway, after Geert Wilders pulled his PVV Party out of the coalition in June over asylum-related policies. But the questions still remain.
This mass governmental exodus perhaps reveals more about Dutch political dysfunction than it does about Middle Eastern diplomacy. The New Social Contract (NSC) Party, which “called itself the party of good governance,” has instead left the Netherlands “rudderless,” as departing Social Affairs Minister Eddy van Hijum admitted.
While Dutch politicians grandstand over Israeli policies and debate sanctions against foreign ministers they’ll likely never meet, pressing domestic issues continue to fester.
The Netherlands faces significant challenges that deserve the full attention of its leadership: according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), nearly 53% of refugee households live on low incomes, while the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) registered 32,175 new asylum applications in 2024.
Most critically, data from the Dutch Homeowners Association (VEH) and the Ministry of the Interior indicate a housing shortage of over 400,000 homes, projected to peak at 411,000 this year, with house prices rising 8.7% in 2024 alone. These are tangible crises affecting Dutch citizens daily.
Yet, instead of focusing on these bread-and-butter issues that directly affect Dutch voters, the government has chosen to expend enormous political capital on Middle Eastern geopolitics. The result? Well, sitting in Israel – and we know that we have our own issues to deal with – it certainly doesn’t look particularly positive for the Dutch right now.
This crisis didn’t emerge in a vacuum. The Dutch government has steadily escalated its confrontational approach toward Israel, from barring entry to Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, declaring them “persona non grata,” to joining calls for suspending parts of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Most recently, Israeli defense companies have been banned from participating in the Netherlands’ largest defense exhibition, NEDS, scheduled for November.
This escalating pattern culminated in Veldkamp’s failed push for additional sanctions, despite his acknowledgment of “resistance in the cabinet against more measures.” The fact that he chose resignation over compromise, even when offered a face-saving alternative of an import ban on Israeli settlement goods, suggests a prioritization of ideological purity over pragmatic governance.
The irony is palpable: while Dutch politicians focus on Gaza and the West Bank, their own citizens face real challenges at home. And it is a similar situation throughout Europe.
The popularity of the Starmer government in the UK and Macron in France should hint to those in Whitehall and the Palais Bourbon that voters, when push comes to shove, care more about their domestic lives and domestic peace than the condition of a conflict that is over 70 years and thousands of miles away.
Dutch FM prioritizing Israeli sanctions over stable governance
Instead, the Netherlands has witnessed its foreign minister prioritize sanctions against Israeli officials over stable governance. The result has been governmental chaos that serves neither Dutch citizens nor the Palestinian cause Veldkamp claimed to champion.
The Netherlands’ approach should also, once again, raise questions about its role as a reliable ally and EU partner. When domestic governance collapses over foreign policy disputes, particularly those involving a democratic ally facing existential security threats, it signals political instability that concerned partners cannot ignore.
Moreover, the attack over the weekend on Israeli nationals at Center Parcs De Kempervennen is the latest in a stream of examples of antisemitism rearing its head in the Scandinavian country, and a place Jews or Israelis can no longer truly feel safe.
We are once again witnessing the vilification of Israeli policy while antisemitism is allowed to grow and fester on Dutch streets. That should be the concern of the Dutch government.
The Netherlands would benefit from a recalibration of priorities. As Israel supporter Wilders noted in his recent conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there are “millions and millions of people in Europe” supporting Israel’s efforts against Hamas terrorism.
Rather than allowing divisions over Israel to paralyze the government further, Dutch leadership should perhaps focus on getting their own affairs in order first.