Israel & Holland, Allies with...Issues

By Nathaniel Tishman

On the bleak morning the Nazis arrived at the Secret Annex on Amsterdam's Prinsengracht 263 to arrest Anne, Otto, and the rest of the Frank family, it would've been natural to think that the relationship between the Netherlands and its Jewish community had been irrevocably shattered. Betrayed by an unknown Dutchman, who could possibly have foreseen that in just a few short years the fledgling Jewish state of Israel would find one of its staunchest allies in Holland? Indeed, through war and peace, economic downturn and ethnic strife, the Netherlands has been one of the few nations that Israel has seemingly always been able to call upon in a time of need. But now, as the second intifada enters its 29th month with no sign of peace on the horizon, has the Dutch attitude begun to shift?

A shameful past

Although the relationship between the Netherlands and Israel today is described almost universally as strong, it hasn't always been the case. If the rest of Europe had been as efficient at rounding up and deporting Jews as Holland in World War II, Israel might well have never existed. The Nazis killed almost 90 percent of the 110,000-strong Netherlands Jewish community; only a fraction survived and returned after the Holocaust. The numbers haven't recovered; even today less than 25,000 Jews live in Holland, according to statistics from the Dutch government.

"For ƒ7.50 (about $3.65) the Dutch were prepared to betray fathers, mothers, and children. There is a strong sense of guilt about this," says Rosa van der Wieken, a member of the Amsterdam City Council and a prominent Dutch advocate for Israel.

The image of the helpful and friendly Dutch has taken on a slightly more sinister meaning: perhaps the Dutch were a little too friendly and helpful with the Nazis. As a result a higher percentage of Dutch Jews were killed than anywhere else in Europe.

Holland has been forced in recent years to come to terms with its past. In 2000 the prominent Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad wrote: "The notion that the Netherlands did not play the heroic role during the war that it attributed to itself over decades is gradually gaining ground. It is now becoming clear that the Jewish part of our population in that black period could count on little solidarity and support to escape the deportations."

The Dutch have begun to realize the extent of their collaboration with the Nazis in the persecution of Holland's Jews, and the way in which they reaped the spoils of their former clients, coworkers, and neighbors. The Dutch government and the Amsterdam Stock exchange estimate that more than ƒ8 billion (3.9 billion Dollars) was looted from the Jewish population and never returned. The Dutch government has attempted to rectify this in recent years, agreeing in June 2000 to a ƒ400 million (195.4 million Dollars) settlement.

Good times, bad times

After the inauspicious past of World War II, the guilt within Dutch society over their role in the Holocaust led to the Netherlands doing everything in its power to support the establishment of Israel.

"There are very good historical links between Israel & Holland. Israel has shown friendship to Holland in many cases, and Holland has done the same for Israel," Eldad Hayet, press officer for the Israeli embassy in The Hague says.

The Netherlands has been one of Israel's strongest allies in recent years, representing Israeli diplomatic interests in places where they were previously unwelcome, notably the former USSR and Poland. Israel's enemies have on many occasions said that ties between Holland and Israel were too close. This was very clear in 1973 when the Netherlands was one of the countries targeted by the Arab oil embargo, specifically for this reason.

The Israel/Holland relationship has been tested at times, however. The October 1992 crash of an El Al Israel Airlines cargo jet into the Bijlmer Apartments in Amsterdam, for example.

The continuing issue of Holocaust restitution has at times made things tense between the two governments. In like manner there is strong feeling that the government's casual handling of reparations payments has also strained ties. The Dutch parliament attempted to lump Jewish claims together with those made by Holland's small Gypsy community and those made by survivors of the conflict in the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).

Additionally, the statements of former Prime Minister Wim Kok, claiming that discrimination against Jews was "unintentional," were seen by many as trying to downplay the role of the Netherlands in the genocide.

For many Dutch supporters of Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's February, 2001 election victory over incumbent Ehud Barak was seen as a disaster. Sharon's checkered past seemed to give fresh ammunition to pro-Palestinian groups in the Netherlands.

'Sharon can be lumped into the same boat as war criminals like Milosevic,' said Wim Lankamp of the Dutch Palestinian Committee.

Although it is clear that some of the Dutch population holds strong anti-Israel feelings, they are considered to be a very small percentage of the Dutch population as a whole. This has been reflected in the policy of the Dutch government toward Israel in recent years. Until its collapse last year, the first Balkenende government was seen as extremely pro-Israel, in large part due to the majority of the Lijst Pim Fortyn and the Christian Democrats, and the pro-Israel stance which they seemed to take.

The coalition government was not entirely pro-Israel, however. The largest parliamentary block after the Christian Democrats and LPF was the extreme left-wing Socialist Party, which has traditionally been very anti-Israel in its policies and ideas. With the Christian Democrats increasing their seats in parliament in the January 2003 election, support for Israel by the Dutch government looks as though it will remain strong.

Voices of opposition

Since the beginning of the 2nd intifada Dutch attitudes and loyalties have begun to shift. In the past, Israel could count on near unanimous support from Holland. Israel's Operation Defensive Shield in March, 2002 effectively reoccupied the territories given to the Palestinians in the Oslo Accords. This has led some of the Dutch population to question policies of the Sharon government, which were excessively militaristic in their view. This is still a minority opinion, however. Zev Stub recently wrote in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz: "With their own society under stress, there is a greater willingness in Holland to maintain an open mind on Israel. Holland loves to root for the underdog, but is coming to understand that Israeli military actions against the world's favorite "underdog" - the Palestinians - may be justified."

The Dutch Socialist party disagrees with Stub. The Socialists, along with the other left-wing factions of the government, have always taken a strongly pro-Palestinian position.

"Just recently the Dutch parliament held a debate about weapons. Naturally, Israel was discussed, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that 'Israel must be supported at all costs.' Obviously we disagree," says Guido van Leemput, spokesman for the party. "We are not advocating the elimination of Israel," he adds, "but if the Socialists were in power, we would put pressure on the United Nations to enforce the resolutions that Israel has consistently violated. This may make us unpopular in the eyes of the Americans and British, but we feel that this is more important."

The Socialists also feel that advocates for Israel have too much influence on the government. Groups lobbying for Israeli interests, such as CIDI, the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel are seen by many on the pro-Palestinian side as being a mouthpiece for the Sharon government.

"A few years ago Ronny Naftaniel (the director of CIDI) would appear on television and radio to attack anyone who was critical of Israel and its policies," says Leemput.

But Hadassah Hirschfeld, deputy director of CIDI, resists these charges. "That's just not true. If they'd bothered to read our newsletters and commentaries they would've seen that for almost 30 years we've had our own political opinion," Hirschfeld says. "We've always said that the settlement policy is wrong, and that things should happen through negotiation, and not violence. We're not saying what the Israeli government is saying; we're completely independent."

One of the most prominent Dutch opponents of current Israeli policy has been Gretta Duisenberg, social activist and wife of European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg. Duisenberg and her organization, Stop the Occupation, drafted several petitions and was one of the main organizers for an April anti-Israel rally in Amsterdam. The rally turned violent, with several Jews being beaten up by gangs of Moroccan youths. Once the demonstration had finished, Duisenberg was interviewed on Dutch radio about the petition, saying that she'd been able to gather 6,000 signatures at that point. She was asked how many signatures she'd like to collect, and laughing, said "six million." Her answer sparked a huge storm within the Dutch Jewish community– in the eyes of Jewish leaders this was seen as an extremely anti-Semitic comment, a reference to the number of Jews who'd died in the Holocaust. Duisenberg denied that she'd meant her comments to be anti-Semitic, but nonetheless, her answer angered many in the Dutch Jewish community.

Not all of Holland's Jews disagree with Duisenberg, however. Anneka Mauthaan of Een Ander Joods Geluid (Another Jewish Voice) was quoted in Ha'aretz as saying: "The problem with certain Jewish groups is that anyone who expresses a different opinion is immediately classified as anti-Semitic and that's no good for anyone, and it's also too easy. It's possible to criticize Israeli policies without being considered anti-Semitic. People just don't want to think about what's happening so they resort to easy solutions."

Mauthaan's organization was formed shortly after the beginning of the 2nd intifada.  It grew out of an earlier non-Jewish organization that advocated peace in Israel. The founders of EAJG felt that their message of supporting Israel, but not its government would be clearer if it was delivered from a strictly Jewish platform. Although it is made up of only around 500 people, Mauthaan feels that there are other Dutch Jews who share its sentiments, but are afraid to come out with their opinions for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic. "We are opposed to the action of the Israeli government, not because we want to end Israel as a state," Mauthaan said in a personal interview,

Een Ander Joods Geluid would like to see a much more critical stance by Holland over the actions of the Israeli military in the Palestinian Territories. The organization also feels that the pro-Israel lobby has too much power to influence Dutch policy toward Israel.

"We want Holland to think in another way. We want to try to influence the government. For a long time the Dutch government only listened to organizations like CIDI, who follow Israeli government policies," Mauthaan says. "We think that the current actions are not helping Israel, and I think we're more patriotic than they are."

And of support

CIDI, based in The Hague, takes a very different view of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and its effects on Dutch attitudes. Since 1974 they have been working to influence public opinion favorably towards Israel, a task which hasn't always been easy.

"We are a lobbying organization, which sometimes shocks people, but it is honest; Greenpeace is also a lobby," says Hadassah Hirschfeld.

Since the beginning of the 2nd intifada CIDI has worked especially hard to try to counter what many in the Dutch Jewish community see as very effective propaganda. A primary technique by Dutch pro-Palestinian groups has been the use graphic and sensational images, which deliver only one side of the story. CIDI has also found a strong ally in prominent Dutch Jewish families, such as the Van der Wieken's.

"The Palestinians have made their propaganda work for Dutch people- they are very good at using propaganda in a horrific way, showing atrocities, blood, and burials," says Rosa van der Wieken. "Until a few months ago Israel kept from doing this, showing the carnage of Palestinian terror… They found that it didn't work, people don't get the real feel of how brutal such onslaughts are otherwise."

Changing perceptions of Israel is not the only goal of CIDI. One of their main objectives has also been to fight anti-Semitism in Europe and the Netherlands, which has seen an upturn in recent years, putting a further strain on Israeli/Dutch ties.

"We don't argue with anti-Israel criticism; CIDI has no problems with that," says Hirschfeld. "If people say Ariel Sharon is a murderer, it is not anti-Semitic, but if people write about Adolf Sharon; that's anti-Semitism."

The Van der Wiekens feel that people in Holland are being misled by what they see on the news and in the print media. A new phenomenon that both have had to tackle in recent years is the increasing numbers of Jews and non-Jews who insist on radical changes in Israel. What Israel's critics in Holland and abroad may be surprised to learn is how much the Van der Wiekens agree with them, and feel that Israel has made many mistakes. They do feel, however, that groups such as Een Ander Joods Geluid go too far.

"[Groups like EAJG] hate themselves for being Jewish and Holland for allying with Israel, even though Israel still behaves better than any other country would in their position," says Mrs. Van der Wieken. "It's not nearly enough for some Jews, because they have such a high esteem of themselves. They hate Israel for not being superhuman."

"What I really disagree about is the human rights incidents, such as settlers burning the olive trees of Palestinian farmers. When you break down people who are trying to toil for their families, and let the settlers misbehave, you are crossing the border of justice," says Van der Wieken.

Her husband Ron agrees. "It's a terrible situation – the most notorious is the settlement policy. The big mistake was when they didn't retreat after the 6-Day War, as Moshe Dayan suggested."

And everyone else

Despite the setbacks, groups such as CIDI have persevered through the intifada, and continue to work to improve Israel's image in the Netherlands and Europe. They are concerned for the future though.

I hope that in 10 years we'll be busy with cultural festivals and music, but I don't think it will happen," says Hirschfeld.

Indeed, CIDI has their work cut out for them to improve ties between Holland and Israel, but not as much as other EU nations. According to two studies commissioned by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League earlier this year, the Netherlands is one of least anti-Semitic countries in Europe, and holds a far more positive view of Israel's actions since the 2nd intifada began. Based on the study results 7 percent of the Dutch population, an alarming number, could be considered strongly anti-Semitic. Contrast this with Spain, though, where almost 35 percent fell into the same category. When asked about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict the study showed that Europeans in general tended to side with the Palestinians by almost a 2 to 1 margin. In France, almost 3 times as many people surveyed sympathize with the Palestinians and feel that Israel is more at fault for the current situation. Similar attitudes can be found in places where it might not normally be expected. In Norway, for example, grocers recently slapped warning labels on Israeli products in Oslo supermarkets to discourage customers from buying them. Large swaths of population within Europe believe that Israel is a racist colonial beast, out of place in the modern world.

"We believe that the Dutch government supports Israel far too much," says Leemput, the Socialist spokesman. "It is strange that the Dutch government has had such a different position on Israel from that of other European nations, such as France or Belgium."

Israeli government representatives would disagree with Leemput, though. They say that the relationship between Israel and Holland remains good, and that questions by the Dutch over Israeli actions should be perceived more as criticism between friends than anything else.

"France & Belgium are more problematic, but there is also a more positive axis towards Israel, which Holland is definitely a part of," says Hayet, the Israeli Embassy spokesman. "Holland sees the picture in a much more balanced way, they understand the complexity and are not so biased, which reflects a very positive and mature view of the situation."

Looking to the future

The political climate in Israel has supporters in Holland worried. The Israeli coalition government collapsed in mid-October, and new elections were held in January. Ariel Sharon's Likud party nearly doubled its seats in the Israeli Knesset (Parliament), to 39, over its more left-wing Labor rivals. The Likud leadership have been some of the strongest supporters of the current settlement policies and the military campaigns in the Palestinian territories. This has the Dutch government worried as well.

"Israel feels compelled to choose the right-wing," says Ron van der Wieken. "There will be very harsh measures which will pale in comparison to what we are seeing now,"

"If Sharon forms a coalition with the extreme right it will affect relations, they will be worse," adds CIDI's Hirschfeld.

Despite more than two years of continuous warfare Israel has pressed on, attempting to remain close with Holland and Europe. In July 2002 a delegation of Israeli business leaders headed to the Netherlands to try to prevent further losses of business, and perhaps make a dent in Israel's perceived 'image problem.'

The future for Israel is uncertain. A large part of Israel's Jewish population has historical roots in Europe, and feels much more connected to the European continent than the Middle East. As such, there are powerful voices pressing for further Israeli integration into modern Europe.

Recently, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made statements suggesting that Israel is interested in eventually joining the European Union, sending shock waves echoing through the corridors of power in Brussels. If this were to ever become a serious discussion, Israel might well find its strongest allies in places such as Holland, Germany, and Denmark. Relations between Israel and Holland are good, but whether they are good enough between Israel and the rest of the EU for a future integration into Europe is a very different issue. EU membership for Israel could happen someday, but a true peace would have to be achieved- this could be a long time in coming. In the meantime, Holland watches its friend in the Middle East, dispensing advice and criticism when it believes it necessary. The Dutch are allies with Israel now– if opinions change and EU expansion continues apace, they could eventually wind up as more than mere allies, but united like never before.