”They have repeatedly urged settlers to violence against Palestinians, promoted illegal expansion of settlements and urged ethnic uprising in Gaza”, writes the Netherlands' Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp in a letter to the parliament that was made public late on Monday.
The decision means that Ben-Gvir and Smotrich can no longer travel to the Netherlands.
Smotrich replied on X that European leaders have given in to "the lies of radical Islam" and "the growing anti-Semitism”.
Ben-Gvir writes on X that "in a place where terrorism is tolerated and terrorists are welcome, a Jewish minister from Israel is not welcome”.
In early July, Slovenia became the first EU country to declare the two ministers "persona non grata". The Netherlands thus becomes the second EU country to impose this type of sanctions.
Sweden already in June urged the EU to impose sanctions on the Israeli ministers. The Netherlands supported the Swedish proposal, but there is a lack of consensus among the EU member states as Israel has strong support from, among others, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Shortly thereafter, the United Kingdom announced that it, together with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway, will impose sanctions on the ministers.
