In Israel, hard-right pro-Israel Dutch lawmaker Wilders meets, lauds Netanyahu

During whirlwind visit, Wilders meets president and attends Knesset session, is showered with praise for support of Israel

By ToI Staff 10 December 2024, 11:42 am Edit
Dutch right-wing leader Geert Wilders is honored as he visits the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, on December 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Dutch right-wing leader Geert Wilders is honored as he visits the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, on December 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Hard-right Dutch political leader Geert Wilders met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the latter’s office in Jerusalem Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

“Great meeting today with my friend Bibi,” Wilders wrote in a post to social media platform X, using the prime minister’s nickname.

He also posted a photo of himself shaking hands with the Israeli leader.

Wilders tweeted that he told Netanyahu that “in 1 year — by crushing Hamas, pulverizing Hezbollah and significantly weakening Iran — he has done more to fight (international) terrorism than the EU has done in the last 70 years!”

The staunchly pro-Israel politician, whose PVV party is the largest in the Netherlands’ parliament and coalition, landed Sunday night for a 36-hour visit, during which he also toured the West Bank with settler leaders, visited the Knesset, and met a host of public officials.

At the Knesset, Wilders sat in on a plenum session. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana announced the presence of “our good friend from Holland,” and lawmakers gave him a standing ovation.

“Whether on the streets of Amsterdam or in the halls of The Hague, Mr. Wilders’ support for Israel and the Jewish people has been nothing short of historic,” Ohana said, speaking in English.

Ohana then cited the Dutch lawmaker’s own remark that “if Jerusalem falls, Athens, Rome, Paris, London, and Washington will be next.”

Wilders made the comment in 2010, referring to the expansion of Muslim communities in Europe. At the time, he also said that Jordan should be renamed “Palestine” and become a Palestinian state to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while the Dutch government should move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.

 

A vocal supporter of Israel, Wilders lived for a year in Moshav Tomer in Israel in his youth.

He has called for the Netherlands to move its embassy to Jerusalem for years.

Among those Wilders met during his visit were President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Knesset Speaker Ohana, Energy Minister Eli Cohen, and Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel.

Herzog told Wilders: “We greatly appreciate your unwavering solidarity with the Israeli people as we continue to work to free our hostages and to fight against the evil of terrorism in our region.

“Thank you for your strong stand against antisemitism in the Netherlands and around the world,” Herzog said according to a statement posted to his office’s official X account.

Herzog was referring to the Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza who were abducted from Israel during the devastating October 7, 2023, cross-border attack led by Palestinian terror group Hamas that opened a war in the Gaza Strip.

Wilders’ visit came after Israeli soccer fans were assaulted by mobs in Amsterdam last month.

Israeli officials said 10 people were injured in the November 7 violence, perpetrated by local Arab and Muslim gangs against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans after a match against the local Ajax soccer club. Hundreds more Israelis huddled in their hotels for hours, fearing they could be attacked. Many said Dutch security forces were nowhere to be found as the Israeli tourists were ambushed by gangs of masked assailants who shouted pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel slogans while they hunted, beat, and harassed them.

Wilders was among officials who described the incident as a “pogrom.”

Before the match, some Maccabi fans burned a Palestinian flag, attacked a taxi, and chanted anti-Arab slogans, according to Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla. Footage of the incidents was widely circulated on social media.

Violence against Jews continued following the November 7 attacks, as anti-Israel protesters repeatedly demonstrated in violation of a temporary ban on protests, prompting some skirmishes with police. In one incident, dozens of rioters clashed with officers and set a tram car on fire while chanting antisemitic slogans.

Antisemitic incidents in the Netherlands have surged, as they have around the world, since the Hamas terror group’s October 7 attack.

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