Explosion hits Christian pro-Israel center in the Netherlands
No one was hurt in the blast as a wave of explosions targeting Jewish and Israel-related institutions has hit Europe in recent weeks
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A blast hit a pro-Israel centre in the Netherlands causing minimal damage and no injuries, police said Saturday, as the targeted group pointed to a spate of similar incidents across Europe.
A police spokeswoman told AFP no one was inside the site run by Christians for Israel, a non-profit in the central city of Nijkerk, when the explosion went off outside its gate late on Friday.
“Investigations revealed that a person dressed in black placed the explosive device,” the police added in a statement, appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Christians for Israel said it was “shocked” by what it described as part of “a worrying pattern” of incidents targeting Jewish and pro-Israeli sites in the Netherlands and neighbouring Belgium.
“The damage was limited, but the impact is significant,” the group said in a social media post.
“The fact that this took place on the eve of Easter, the most important celebration for Christians, makes it all the more poignant.”
Police cautioned it was too early to determine a motive for the incident. An investigation was ongoing and no arrests have been made so far, they added.
Christians for Israel says its mission is to promote “Biblical understanding in the Church and among the nations concerning God’s purposes for Israel and to promote comfort of Israel through prayer and action”.
Its “Israel Centre” in Nijkerk hosts exhibitions, lectures and a shop, according to the group’s website.
First Jews were intimidated and attacked in the Netherlands. Now Christians who support Israel are being targeted too. This explosion at the Christenen voor Israël center in Nijkerk is not an isolated incident: these criminals must be captured and…
— Amb. Zvi A. Vapni (@vapni) April 4, 2026
Israel’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Zvi Aviner Vapni, said that the explosion was not an isolated incident and called for the capture of the perpetrators, in a post on X.
The incident comes after a string of similar attacks on Jewish sites across Europe in recent weeks that has heightened concerns over antisemitism in the wake of the war in the Middle East.
In March, four ambulances in north London belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish not-for-profit volunteer organization that responds to medical emergencies, were set ablaze outside a synagogue in an antisemitic hate crime.
UK media outlets reported that a terror group going by the name Ashab al-Yamin had taken responsibility for the attack on social media.
The group emerged publicly last month and is believed to be linked with Iranian terror networks. Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry said the group has claimed responsibility for a series of explosions and arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in Belgium, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam.
The group also claimed that it had attacked a Jewish site in Greece earlier this month, although it is not clear what that referred to.
One such attack was an explosion targeted a synagogue in Liège, Belgium in March. No one was injured in the blast.
Belgium later began deploying military troops to reinforce security at synagogues and Jewish schools.
Another explosion hit a Jewish school in Amsterdam in March, that damaged a rain pipe and charred an outer wall at the school. It is the only one specifically for Orthodox Jews in the Netherlands, and is largely fenced off by a pointed, metal outer wall due to earlier threats.
A week prior, in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, Dutch police they had arrested four young men on suspicion of setting off an explosion outside a synagogue in the city that caused a brief blaze and damage to the building.
The Times of Israel Community.