Middle East policy also causing tensions in Dutch Cabinet, expecially between PVV, NSC
In addition to the asylum policy, the government’s position on the Middle East is also causing strife in the Schoof I Cabinet. PVV and NSC Ministers have clashed fiercely about the Palestinians' position, with the far-right Ministers refusing to include support for a two-state solution in the government agreement, sources close to the Cabinet told NOS.
It has been standing policy for years that Dutch governments support a separate state for Palestine and Israel. But the PVV Ministers, specifically Minister Marjolein Faber of Asylum and Migration, refused to add that to the Schoof I government agreement, according to the sources. That touched a nerve with the NSC Ministers, who value the two-state solution because they feel it offers security for Israel and prospects for Palestine.
This topic already caused a diplomatic row this summer when PVV leader Geert Wilders wrote on X that Jordan was the “only real” Palestinian state. Jordan summoned the Dutch ambassador to explain the PVV leader’s “racist” position, and NSC Minister Caspar Veldkamp of Foreign Affairs had to firmly and officially distance himself from Wilders’ statements.
That is part of the reason why the NSC felt so strongly about including the two-state solution and perspective for the people of Palestine in the government agreement.
Deputy Prime Ministers Sophie Hermans (VVD) and Mona Keijzer (BBB) intervened and calmed the situation, NOS’s sources said. They came up with texts that all four coalition parties could live with. The government agreement will include the two-state solution, though exactly how it is worded will only become clear when the document is presented on Friday, the sources said.
NOS previously reported that the PVV and NSC also clashed about the asylum policy included in the government agreement. The PVV wanted to go even further than the “strictest asylum policy ever” in the main lines agreement, while the NSC advocated legal safeguards.
