Dutch Jewish leader says settlement ban another sign of Netherlands’ growing hostility

The Dutch import ban that went into effect last week on products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank will have limited effects on the buying habits of Jews in the Netherlands, a community leader said Wednesday, but noted that it added to the unease of local Jews amid mounting antisemitism.

The symbolic impact of the new restrictions, coming after nearly three years of continued antagonism against the Jewish community, is part of a trend that has made life in the country “uneasy and unpleasant,” Jigal Markuszower, president of the Jewish Communities in the Netherlands (NIK), told The Times of Israel.

“The law means we’re not free to buy whatever we want, even if we are shopping in the market in Jerusalem,” said Markuszower, noting that the prohibition applies not only to commercial imports but also to products brought in by private travelers as souvenirs or gifts. “But the bigger problem is that such a ban exists, and that other similar things are happening all the time.”

The market for exports from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights to the Netherlands is small, estimated at about $50 million a year and consisting primarily of agricultural products. Total Israeli exports to the country were $2.65 billion during 2025, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.

But the gesture is a clear diplomatic message to Israel amid mounting anger in Europe over the surge in Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and spiraling violence by settler extremists against Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced earlier this week that in retaliation, Dutch diplomats serving in Ramallah would have to return their Israeli-issued diplomatic credentials following the start of the ban.

For the Jewish community of the Netherlands, which totals between 30,000 and 50,000 people, it’s yet another reminder of what Markuszower described as increasing hostility against them on the streets. He cited the cancellation — and then downgrading — of a Hanukkah concert with IDF chief cantor Shai Abramson last year, and academic boycotts by Dutch universities against Israeli academia, as examples of the harassment Jews there face.

Interactions with police over security at Jewish schools and synagogues have gotten more difficult over the past six months, Markuszower said. One officer spoke harshly to him even as he was speaking to The Times of Israel from his cellphone.

“Just now, a police officer overheard me mentioning Jerusalem on our call, and he said something unpleasant,” he said.

Dutch Jewry is largely secular but quite diverse, Markuszower said, noting that around 35% to 40% of Amsterdam’s Jewish population consists of Israelis who have moved there in recent years. Other Jews, meanwhile, condemn Israel’s policies and protest its military actions in Gaza, he noted.

Among the Zionist community, some people are considering immigrating to Israel, or have children trying to build a life there, Markuszower said. The threat of rising antisemitism is tempered by concerns of Israel’s cost of living and the prospect of compulsory military service, he said.

“For those considering making aliya (immigrating), there’s not only a pull factor of Israel now,” he said, noting that his own children are currently studying at Israeli universities. “There’s also a push factor from Europe.”

Most of the people who attack Israel have no idea what actually happens on the ground in the Jewish state or Gaza, and are merely repeating propaganda, Markuszower claimed. He compared them to the “fools” described in the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, read in synagogue on Sukkot.

“Unfortunately, I don’t see it getting better anytime soon,” he said.