Dutch Foreign Minister Steps Down After Israel Sanctions Blocked, Caretaker Govt Fragments

Dutch parliament is fiercely divided on whether it should take more measures which add teeth to recent actions calling out Israel for the mounting civilian death toll and starvation conditions in the Gaza Strip. Just last month, the hardline Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who actively assist in Jewish settler expansion in the West Bank, were formally declared persona non grata in the Netherlands.

On Friday, following a five-hour parliamentary debate which made clear that the caretaker government is divided, foreign minister Casper Veldkamp (center-right New Social Contract party) stepped down in protest after members of his own cabinet blocked new sanctions measures imposed on Israel.

Veldkamp acknowledged that the government had already made positive moves, but he explained, “I felt resistance in the cabinet against more measures as a result of what is happening in Gaza City and the occupied West Bank at the moment.”

“I find myself unable to implement meaningful additional steps to increase pressure on Israel,” he added in a statement to the press. He felt ‘constrained’ on the vital issue, Veldmamp described.

Bloomberg observes that Veldkamp has “faced resistance to his stance from some members of the caretaker coalition that has run the Netherlands since the government collapsed in June.”

Over twenty countries, including many in Europe and Netherlands among them, have this week signed a joint declaration condemning Israel’s approval of a major West Bank settlement project, dubbing it “unacceptable and contrary to international law.” However, Veldkamp and some in parliament have wanted to go beyond mere symbolic acts.

Parallel to the situation in the United States, the Dutch right is beginning to split on Israel – as more and more conservatives, and especially young people begin to question their governments’ constant support of Israel – or at least lack of accountability when it comes to Tel Aviv’s actions.

The political landscape on the Right in The Netherlands has always been supportive of Israel. But the shift is illustrated by parties like the Forum for Democracy (FvD), which have led the most vocal criticisms of Israel – and from the Right. Though its founding its relatively recent (2015), party leader and founder Thierry Baudet has described to ZeroHedge that FvD – despite currently having just a handful of seats in parliament – is the single largest party by membership in The Netherlands.

MP Baudet previously took to the parliament floor where he spoke inconvenient truths, and made clear his position that what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza goes too far:

“All of the Netherlands was wondering why the cabinet actually fell. I already raised the question on June 4th last year: did the cabinet perhaps fall over Gaza – not over immigration?” Baudet questioned.

Heel Nederland vroeg zich af waarom het kabinet nou eigenlijk viel. Ik wierp al op 4 juni j.l. de vraag op: is het kabinet wellicht gevallen op Gaza — niet op immigratie?

De PVV heeft immers gewoon meegedaan met de plaatsing van al die AZC’s de afgelopen anderhalfjaar, wat in… pic.twitter.com/YKNKGQBH9K

— Thierry Baudet (@thierrybaudet) August 22, 2025

Baudet continued in his earlier this summer parliament address, “Could it be that Geert Wilders [who resigned in June pulling his party out of government and toppled the ruling coalition] foresaw today’s clash, in which he would inevitably face opposition from a majority of the House – for whom expelling, killing, or starving all of Gaza would go too far?”

Indeed the issue has become a deep flashpoint, also as on Friday the UN declared a state of famine in parts of Gaza, ahead of the October 29 general elections.

The Dutch ‘far-right’ party Forum for Democracy has been forging relationships with conservative/libertarian-leaning anti-Israel movements in the United States…

Division in Dutch parliament and within the caretaker government is only likely to grow more intense between now and then, and could translate to parties critical of Israel picking up many more seats.