Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Israel's president meets Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders in Amsterdam

Anti-Muslim campaigner pledges support for Israel as Isaac Herzog condemns 'hatred' at Holocaust memorial opening ceremony

Social media photo showing Geert Wilders meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog (Geert Wilders)
Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders in Amsterdam during a visit to the Netherlands on Sunday.

Wilders, an anti-Islam campaigner who won the biggest number of votes in November's general election, posted a picture with Herzog on his social media.

"I just had a great meeting in Amsterdam with the President of Israel [Isaac Herzog]" he wrote in English.

"I told him I am proud that he visits the Netherlands and that Israel has, and always will have, my full support in its fight against terror."

Herzog was in the Netherlands to attend the opening of a Holocaust museum in Amsterdam.

At the opening ceremony, he warned that "hatred and antisemitism are flourishing worldwide and we must fight it together" and called for the release of hostages being held in Gaza.

Protesters demonstrated outside the event, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 31,000 people have been killed by Israel's bombardment.

'We want less Islam'

Wilders's Party for Freedom (PVV) won 37 seats in the 150-member parliament in November. 

The far-right politician ran on an anti-migration ticket promising to close the country’s borders, and said he would put on hold a previous pledge to ban the Quran, the Muslim holy book.


Wilders has also promised in the past to stop the construction of new mosques and implement a ban on wearing Islamic scarves in government buildings.

He has also compared Islam to a totalitarian ideology that should be banned.

"We want less Islam in the Netherlands and we will achieve that through: less non-Western immigration and the introduction of a general halt to asylum," read his party's manifesto.

Wilders has also been a longtime supporter of Israel and has denied the Palestinians' right to their homeland, suggesting they be expelled to Jordan.

In 2016 he tweeted that then-US President Barack Obama should stop "bashing Israel about settlements" in the occupied West Bank, stating that the territory belonged to Israel.

"Jordan = Palestine," he wrote.

Wilders is aiming to lead a new government after his party won the elections but has yet to be able to form a governing coalition.

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