Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his Ministry of General Affairs are keeping a firm grip on the Dutch government’s communications about Israel and Gaza. The outgoing Dutch Prime Minister is sweeping politically unwelcome information about Israel, such as possible human rights violations, under the rug so as not to offend the United States and protect his prospects for his future job as NATO leader, NRC reports based on an anonymous letter a group of civil servants from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to the Court of Appeal in The Hague.
“A request from the Ministry of General Affairs to the Legal Affairs Directorate at Foreign Affairs reads as follows,” NRC quoted from the officials’ letter: “What can we say so that it appears that Israel is not committing war crimes?”
Rutte and his Ministers have spoken out about the war, which has cost the lives of around 24,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis so far, multiple times, urging Israel to act within the international rule of law. The Netherlands has never called for a ceasefire, only sticking to appeals for “humanitarian pauses.”
On Friday, Rutte posted about a call he had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X. “Hamas must release all of the hostages as soon as possible. At the same time, Israel must drastically reduce the level of force used in its operations, as it is causing too many casualties among innocent civilians. Israel must also allow substantially more humanitarian aid into Gaza and more quickly. We discussed concrete measures for making this possible. The situation calls for an immediate humanitarian pause,” Rutte said.
According to the officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rutte is following the United States’ line on Israel to protect his prospects to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as the Secretary General of NATO. The European allies certainly have a say in this appointment, but the White House’s vote is decisive.
Well, what's 30000 lives, and counting, when your potential job's at stake?