Wilders is free to visit Israeli settlements, Dutch Prime Minister says

Geert Wilders can indeed visit illegal Israeli settlements without violating agreements with his coalition partners, according to Prime Minister Dick Schoof. The Cabinet must abide by these agreements, but Wilders and the other coalition leaders are not bound by them, Schoof said. Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said on Thursday that such a trip by the PVV leader was “not in line” with the agreed “baseline” and that the Cabinet would deal with it.

"There is a big difference between what the Cabinet is bound to and what parliament is bound to," Schoof said after the weekly Cabinet meeting. "Faction leaders, members of parliament, that also applies to Mr. Wilders, are free to do what he thinks he should do. We can have an opinion about that, but he is simply free to do what he wants to do." Whether Wilders wants to visit Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, whose arrest has been ordered by the International Criminal Court, or settlements that violate international law that the Cabinet promised to adhere to in the basic line.

“There is a big difference between what the Cabinet is obliged to do and what parliament is obliged to do,” Schoof said after the weekly Council of Ministers. “The leaders of the parliamentary groups, the MPs, including Mr. Wilders, are free to do what they think they have to do. We can have an opinion on that, but he is free to do it.” Regardless of whether Wilders wants to visit Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, whose arrest was ordered by the International Criminal Court, or settlements that violate international law, which the Cabinet has pledged to uphold in the baseline.

There is therefore "no reason" to discuss a trip to Israel by Wilders in the Cabinet, the prime minister stated. According to him, that did not happen.

The baseline, including the obligation to comply with international law, does apply to the position of the coalition parties in the House, Schoof notes. He does not want to say what the consequences would be for violating the baseline. "We have to keep each other intact."

Wilders does not care about critics, he says on X. "Nobody has such a big mandate from the voters. So let there be no misunderstanding: I speak to whoever I want, both at home and abroad, and I go where I want," the PVV leader said. "Nobody can stop me."

NRC reported last week that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party had invited the far-right Dutch politician to visit illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.