Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, part of a caretaker government, resigned on Friday after a cabinet meeting failed to reach consensus on new sanctions against Israel, the Middle East Eye reported.
Following his resignation, the centre-right New Social Contract party, to which Veldkamp belongs, withdrew from the governing coalition, deepening the political crisis in the Netherlands.
The Dutch government collapsed on 3 June, and the caretaker minority administration is expected to remain in office until a new coalition is formed following October’s elections, a process that could take several months.
Veldkamp, a former ambassador to Israel, called for fresh measures against Israel on Thursday in response to its war on Gaza and its plans for the occupied West Bank.
Earlier this week, Israel approved an illegal and highly controversial project to build more than 3,400 settlements in the West Bank, which would effectively split the territory in half.
Last month, the Netherlands declared far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich persona non grata. It also joined 20 other countries in signing a joint declaration condemning Israel’s West Bank settlement project as “unacceptable and contrary to international law”.
However, the cabinet reached a deadlock on Friday over potential new steps to pressure Israel.
Veldkamp told Dutch news agency ANP that he felt “insufficiently able to take meaningful additional measures” and that he was constrained in pursuing the course he deemed necessary as foreign minister.
He added that the measures he had proposed were “seriously discussed” but repeatedly met with resistance in cabinet meetings.
Last month, Amsterdam named Israel as a foreign threat to its national security for the first time, citing disinformation campaigns endangering the lives of Dutch citizens.
The Dutch government has faced mounting pressure from public protests over Israel’s war. Demonstrations in The Hague drew between 100,000 and 150,000 people – the largest in the country in two decades. Protesters demanded sanctions on Israel and humanitarian access for civilians in Gaza.
On Friday, the United Nations officially declared a famine in the enclave, citing “systematic obstruction” of aid by Israel.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers have repeatedly failed to agree on collective sanctions against Israel, despite lobbying from several member states.
