Dutch intelligence report identifies Israel as a foreign threat for first time. Israel conducted disinformation campaigns to influence public opinion and politics in the Netherlands, says report by security and counter-terrorism agency. The report also voiced concerns over mounting threats from both Israel and the US toward the International Criminal Court in The Hague

The report also voiced concerns over mounting threats from both Israel and the US toward the International Criminal Court in The Hague, pictured in November 2024 (Laurens van Putten/AFP)

MIDDLE EAST EYE

By MEE staff

Published date: 28 July 2025 14:37 BST 

The Netherlands has named Israel as a foreign threat to the country's national security for the first time, citing disinformation campaigns endangering the lives of Dutch citizens.

A report published by the National Coordinator for Security and Counter-terrorism (NCTV) says that Israel attempted to influence public opinion and politics in the country by circulating documents directly to Dutch journalists and politicians instead of using the official diplomatic channels. 

The alleged disinformation campaign occurred after the clashes that followed the football match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam last November. 

Close to 30 people were wounded as Israeli fans were caught on video vandalising property, threatening and assaulting people, as well as chanting racist, anti-Arab slogans. 

The Israeli authorities branded the riots as antisemitic and ordered two rescue planes to the Netherlands to evacuate the fans.

A week later, the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, took back her comments describing the violence as a "pogrom", saying that Israel "bypassed" Dutch authorities regarding the details of the events and their framing.

The NCTV report said that the document circulated by Israel-affiliated agencies also contained "unusual and unwanted personal details" about Dutch citizens. The country's ministries of justice, security and foreign affairs warned that these individuals could face threats, harassment and even physical attacks.

The NCTV further voiced concerns over mounting threats from both Israel and the US toward the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The report said that this could potentially disrupt the court’s work.

Last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over their role in alleged war crimes in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.

The court has since faced significant pressure from the US and Israel to drop the investigation.

The Netherlands hosts key international legal institutions, such as the International Court of Justice, and bears a special responsibility to protect them from external influence. 

The NCTV  report comes as the Dutch government - a traditional Israeli ally - has become increasingly critical of the country over its war on Gaza and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave.

Along with Ireland and Spain, the Netherlands has urged the European Union to reevaluate its ties with Israel due to its war on Gaza, accusing the country of violating the human rights provisions in the EU-Israel association agreement.

In February 2024, The Hague court of appeals ordered the Dutch government to stop the export of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel.

The court raised concerns that the weapons may be used to breach international humanitarian law.

However, despite the court’s decision, there have been reports that the Netherlands is still supporting the supply chain of Israel’s version of the F-35 fighter jet.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/netherlands-intelligence-report-identifies-israel-foreign-threat 

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]  

My letters RE CSM's "Israel becomes a 'Promised Land' for non-Jewish geeks" & NYTimes' "For Israel, a U.S. Strike Is a No-Brainer" by Daniel Nisman, Middle East intelligence manager at Max Security Solutions

Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice. photo credits Red Cross ICRC & UNWRA historic archives

RE  For Israel, a U.S. Strike Is a No-Brainer
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/07/opinion/global/for-israel-a-us-strike-is-a-no-brainer.html?ref=global

Dear Editor,

Bitter memories of the Holocaust which dominate Israel’s national psyche should motivate Israelis to respect international law and the Palestinian's basic human rights, as well as negotiations to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict... but that has not happened.

Continuing to call Israel "The Jewish State" rather than simply "Israel", creates the emotional roller coaster that has been hurling Israel towards impoverishing and displacing even more Palestinian men, women and children- including countless Palestinian refugees already displaced multiple times.

Hezbollah (and Hamas, and possibly even Al-Qaeda) would not even be but for the rampant institutionalized bigotry and injustice of "The Jewish State" with it's sovereign template of how to succeed economically and 'emotionally' by arming religion with lethal weaponry and constant spin.

The Syria crisis and tragedy is not just the number of children killed, or the methods used to kill them, it is also the refugee crisis.  Syrian refugees top 2 million as thousands flee daily , despite the fact that "A lot of people are afraid to leave... People don't want to become Palestinian-ized" -- in reference to the decades-long displacement of millions of Palestinians that began in 1948."

"At the end of August [2013], some 716,000 Syrian refugees were registered or in the process of being registered in Lebanon, 515,000 in Jordan, 460,000 in Turkey, 168,000 in Iraq and 110,000 in Egypt"

Look at a map- every neighboring nation except Israel has welcomed in Syrian refugees. Every country sharing a border, except Israel, is wrestling with how to feed and house and keep safe the people displaced by the debacle in Syria. And what will happen to the children of Syria as time goes by... As long as an economically successful and relatively stable Israel is idolized and defined as "The Jewish State", rather than as a real democracy with full and equal rights for all, Islamists everywhere will follow Israel's lead- arming religion with lethal weaponry and constant spin.

Bombing Syria only adds to the violence and the angst and the proxy investments pushing this mess towards WWIII. Instead of fixating on military action, the entire world would be much better off if  we all focused in on peace and actually ending the Israel-Palestine conflict with a fully secular two state solution that fully honors and respects international law and basic human rights, including but not limited to every refugee's universal right to return to original homes and lands.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

*******

RE: Israel becomes a 'Promised Land' for non-Jewish geeks-Tel Aviv is home to a growing number of non-Jewish expats drawn by the optimism and openness of its technology start-up scene. 
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0907/Israel-becomes-a-Promised-Land-for-non-Jewish-geeks

Dear Editor,

The pretty side of ethnic cleansing and institutionalized bigotry a la Israel is that a constant flow of clueless new arrivals infuse the conversation with happy stories of Israel and falling in love.   The not so pretty side is the fact  that Palestinian refugees continue to be refused their inalienable legal, moral and natural right to return to original homes and lands, a universal basic human right clearly affirmed by UN Resolution 194 in 1948.

Imagine if these Untied States of America decided that as of now, following Israel's spectacularly successful lead, citizenship and job opportunities depend entirely on either being a Christian or being married to a Christian- except for a few token exceptions to the rule for PR purposes. 

Imagine if every country in the Middle East, following Israel's spectacularly successful lead, opted to make citizenship and security as well as travel privileges dependent on pledging allegiance to a preferred religion, and then eventually a preferred sect of that religion as our world becomes more crowded and number crunching sovereign nations seek ways to figure out how to allocate increasingly scarce resources. 

There is a huge difference, both economically and emotionally, between voluntary relocation and forced exile.

When you leave your house or apartment today, closing the door behind you, take note that your freedom to return depends on many factors- including fair and just laws.  When you drive across town to visit your mother or sister or friend or a doctor, keep in mind the fact that your freedom to do so depends on many factors- including fair and just laws.  When you apply for a job or a building permit or a passport remember the crucial importance of fair and just laws.... and the very real plight of the Palestinians.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Live by the Golden Rule

Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

Dear President Obama... Let Freedom Ring

194

Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land

Globalizing Martin Luther King, Jr.

• 
  Jordan's King Abdullah II explains that extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

 *********

The Arab Peace Initiative

1. Requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well.

2. Further calls upon Israel to affirm:

I- Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.

II- Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.

III- The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

3. Consequently, the Arab countries affirm the following:

I- Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region.

II- Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/)   Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:

Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

"Legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Thomas Jefferson

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt

Live by the Golden Rule
Words to Honor: The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

The Balfour Declaration of 1917

".... it being clearly understood that nothing
          shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
          rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine....

"In 1949, the international community accepted Israel's UN membership upon two conditions: That they respect resolutions 181 (two states) and 194 (refugee rights). Neither has been honored. In fact, 65 years later, Israel has not even acknowledged what it did in 1948." Saeb Erekat
 

11 December 1948 UN Resolution 194:"Refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible"

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you