PVV leader Wilders visiting illegal Israeli settlement in occupied West Bank today

PVV leader Geert Wilders is currently in Israel and plans to visit an illegal Israeli settlement on the occupied West Bank on Monday, he said on X. The leader of the largest coalition party in the Netherlands also has meetings planned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, among others.

Last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant due to indications that they “bear criminal responsibility” for several crimes, including using starvation as a weapon and “murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.” The court also issued an arrest warrant against Mohammed Deif, the military chief of Hamas.

As of Sunday, December 8, Israel has killed at least 44,708 people in Gaza, including 17,492 children, and at least 807 people in the occupied West Bank, including 169 children, Al Jazeera reported based on figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israel started incessantly bombing Palestinians on October 7 last year, after Hamas committed terrorist attacks on the country, killing 1,137 people.

Wilders called the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant “the world gone mad” and called Netanyahu his “friend.” His intended trip to Israel leaked to NRC last month. The PVV leader pressed charges saying that the leak endangered his safety and that of his security guards.

The PVV leader’s trip irritated the Cabinet. Minister Caspar Veldkamp of Foreign Affairs said that Wilders’ visit to illegal Israeli settlements is at odds with the government’s stance on a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel. But Wilders can decide where he goes, Veldkamp said. “Parliamentarians can visit foreign countries. They do so often.”