Netherlands said to cut Holocaust survivor’s pension over West Bank residence

The Netherlands has cut the pension payments to a Jewish Dutch national who immigrated to Israel because she lives in the West Bank, Channel 2 reports.

The woman is 90 years old and a survivor of the Holocaust.

“She got a letter and it says, ‘Honorable lady, because you went to live in the West Bank and we have no agreement with this periphery, we are obligated to deduct a large amount from your old-age pension,'” the woman’s son tells Channel 2.

“This hit my mother so badly that she started crying. She hasn’t been sleeping since then, she lost her trust. She wants to leaver the country,” the man, whose voice was altered on TV and whose face remained off-screen, says.

“This a law voted on by the Dutch government” he continues. “It affected my mother catastrophically; I was personally shocked, my family was shocked. This is unbelievable: They are punishing a 90-year-old woman because she immigrated to Israel and because it’s the territories and she lives in the State of Israel… and this is her livelihood. I mean, this is her pension. How is this possible?”

The Channel did not quote a response from Dutch authorities.