‘Israel’s greatest friend’ goes against government policy

With the extremist settler leader Yossi Dagan at his side, PVV leader Geert Wilders stands at a viewpoint in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Monday morning. “Amazing how small the area is,” Wilders told Dagan, according to Israeli media.

Yossi Dagan, who invited Wilders on behalf of the right-wing Likud party, heads the ‘regional council of Samaria’, the board of 35 illegal settlements in the north of the Palestinian West Bank.

Internationally, Dagan lobbies for the further annexation of the West Bank. He regularly shows politicians around the territory occupied by Israel since 1967. Also he encourages settler violence against Palestinians. Wilders, in turn, is a strong supporter of settlements and has repeatedly said that “the only real Palestinian state is Jordan.”

A video distributed by the Samaria Council shows Dagan at the viewpoint says to Wilders that “the Green Line area without the Shomron Mountains is indefensible. That will be clear after October 7.” He refers to the 1949 ceasefire between Israel and the West Bank. Right-wing politicians and settlers refer to the West Bank by the Biblical names Judea and Samaria [Shomron]. Dagan’s message: Israel needs ‘Shomron’ for its security.

Two-state solution

Wilders’ visit to occupied Palestinian territory with settler leader Dagan is at odds with this cabinet policywhich focuses on the pursuit of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The settlements, which are illegal under international law, pose a “threat to the peace process,” according to the policy.

In recent years, violence by settlers, often assisted by the Israeli army, has increased sharply

In the shadow of the war in Gaza, the annexation of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank continued over the past year. Including East Jerusalem, about 750,000 settlers now live there. In recent years, violence by settlers, often assisted by the Israeli army, has increased sharply. Since October last year, more than eight hundred Palestinians have been killed by army and settler violence.

Last July, the International Court of Justice in The Hague concluded in an opinion that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory (Gaza and the West Bank) is unlawful and must end as soon as possible. The settlements in the West Bank should also be dismantled.

Wilders’ visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank also follows the arrest warrants that the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued last month for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in Gaza. In addition to the tour with Dagan and the visit to the Knesset, Wilder’s program on Monday also included a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.

Arrest warrants

Last month, Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp was supposed to travel to Israel, but that visit was canceled. The official story was that his travel plans had been leaked. However, it was clear that Veldkamp was no longer welcome after he said in the House of Representatives that he would comply with the arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court.

In the WNL radio program Sven op 1, VVD MP Eric van der Burg lashed out at Wilders because of his trip on Monday. According to Van der Burg, Wilders is “deliberately” going against cabinet policy with his visit and is “undermining” the international position of Minister Veldkamp and Prime Minister Dick Schoof. Wilders is also “in any case not concerned with serving the national interest,” says Van der Burg.

After his tour with Yossi Dagan, Wilders was addressed in English by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon prior to the plenary session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. “Wilders’ support for Israel and the Jewish people is nothing less than historic,” said Ohana, who spoke of a “solidarity visit.”

In the Knesset, Wilders also met Likud parliamentarian Ariel Kallner, who openly advocates new settlements in Gaza. He also received an award from the Jabotinsky Institute. The name of this institute is taken from Vladimir Jabotinsky, the founder of Revisionist Zionism at the beginning of the twentieth century, and ideologue of the Likud Party.

‘Very good friend’

Wilders was in Israel at the invitation of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party. The invitation, leaked last month NRCwas signed by Dagan and Israeli Science Minister Gila Gamliel. This right-wing Likud minister proposed in a policy document early last year to expel the Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai desert.

Wilders arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, where he met with Gamliel that same evening. On Monday morning, Wilders also met with Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, whom he called a “very good friend” on X. Wilders met Saar in Amsterdam in early November, when the minister came to the Netherlands after the riots in the capital surrounding the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv football match. Knesset Speaker Ohana was also in Amsterdam at the time.

The Israeli settlement of Tomer on the occupied West Bank, where PVV leader Wilders did volunteer work as a teenager in the early 1980s.

Wilders was initially also expected to visit the illegal settlement of Tomer on the West Bank on Monday. That visit was canceled at the last minute, settlers said in the settlement on Monday. “We are always happy to receive Geert in Tomer,” said settler Yogev Karasenti about Wilders’ previous visits.

Wilders worked voluntarily as a teenager in Tomer, an agricultural settlement, in the early 1980s. In media appearances about this period he invariably refers to his time “in Israel” or “Judea and Samaria”. But his “love for Israel” originated in an illegal settlement in Palestine. Today, mejdoul dates are grown in the settlement. This type of date is grown in Palestine not only by Palestinian date farmers but also in various illegal settlements. The mejdoul dates also find their way to European supermarkets, partly due to ambiguous labeling stating that they are made in Israel.

With his visit, Wilders managed to attract the necessary attention not only in the Netherlands, but also in Israel, where he was called “Israel’s greatest friend” on the pro-Netanyahu television channel Channel 14 on Monday. Wilders posted several photos of his meetings with ministers and representatives on his X account on Monday. However, he omitted photos with Yossi Dagan from the occupied West Bank.

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