Israel–Netherlands relations are foreign relations between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The Netherlands has an embassy in

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

, an information office in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and two honorary consulates in

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

and

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. Israel has an embassy in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. Both countries are full members of the

Union for the Mediterranean The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; , ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 Member state of the European Union, EU member states (i ...

History

His majesty King

Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest ch ...

commemorated the long-lasting bonding between the Netherlands and the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in Israel (President Shimon Peres' dinner 2013): “It was a Dutch banker from The Hague, Jacobus Kann, who made possible the purchase of the land on which the first modern districts of Tel Aviv were built, more than 100 years ago.” Jacobus Henricus Kann (1872–1944) was a Jewish Dutch banker and owner of the private bank NV Bankierskantoor van Lissa & Kann ( ABN AMRO Bank), among his clientele were members of the Dutch royal family, a founder of Bank Otzar Hityashvut Hayehudim and Bank Anglo Palestine (

Bank Leumi Bank Leumi (, lit. ''National Bank''; ) is an Israeli bank. It was founded on February 27, 1902, in Jaffa as the ''Anglo Palestine Company'' as subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust () Limited formed before in London by members of the Zionism, ...

), and an affluent investor in companies as the Palestine Potash Limited (

Dead Sea Works The Dead Sea Works (, ''Mif'alei Yam HaMelakh'') is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel. History Under the British administration, concessions from the Mandatory government were given. On January 1, 1930, the "Con ...

) and Frutarom. Kann sponsored many of Hertzel activities and the zionist conferences and purchased the land for Achuzat Bait- the seed of Tel-Aviv. Kann arrived to Jerusalem for a third time in 1924 with his family and was nominated as the first Consul of the Netherlands in Jerusalem (1924–27). Kann died on October 7, 1944, in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. In 1947, the Netherlands voted in favor of the

United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations to partition Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. Drafted by the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, the Pl ...

. Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1949. The Netherlands was initially among the most supportive countries of Israel in Europe. It was one of the few countries to establish an embassy in

, whereas most countries preferred placing their embassies in the

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

area until the final status of Jerusalem was resolved. Following the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, the Dutch people raised about $4.2 million for Israel in donations. After the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

cut off diplomatic relations with Israel due to the Six-Day War, the Dutch Embassy in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

established an Israel interests' section which represented Israel in the Soviet Union until diplomatic relations were reestablished in January 1991. In 1973, during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

, the Netherlands was one of only two European countries (the other being

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

) that allowed American aircraft ferrying military equipment to Israel as part of Operation Nickel Grass to use its airbases. The Netherlands also supplied Israel with military equipment during the war, primarily engines, spare parts, and shells for its British-built

Centurion tank The FV4007 Centurion was the primary main battle tank of the British Army during the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing comba ...

s after the British government had imposed an arms embargo on Israel and thus cut off Israel's original source for this material, but also parts and munitions for light AMX tanks, artillery ammunition, and aircraft bombs. A number of Dutch truck drivers worked in Israel during the war to replace Israeli truck drivers who had been called up for military service. In 1980, following the

Jerusalem Law Jerusalem Law (, ) is a common name of Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel passed by the Knesset on 30 July 1980. Although the law did not use the term, the Israeli Supreme Court interpreted the law as an effective annexation of East Jeru ...

and a UN Resolution asking member states to withdraw their Jerusalem embassies in response, the Dutch government moved its embassy from Jerusalem. Dutch forces were deployed as part of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and during the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

, a unit of Dutch peacekeepers was one of the few UNIFIL units that attempted to obstruct the Israeli advance. The Dutch soldiers put up obstacles that damaged two Israeli tanks, but the Israeli armored column ultimately forced its way through their position. During the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

in 1991,

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

launched

Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the m ...

missile attacks against Israel in the hopes of provoking an Israeli counterattack and thus rupturing the Allied Coalition, which included Arab countries. Israel agreed not to attack Iraq in exchange for protection, and Coalition Patriot missile batteries were deployed in Israel to counter the Scud attacks. The

Royal Netherlands Air Force The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; , "Royal Air Force") is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' () of the Dutch Army, which was founded ...

deployed a patriot missile squadron to Israel and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. The Dutch Defense Ministry later confirmed that the Patriot missiles had been largely ineffective, but the psychological value was high. After the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, a court in the Netherlands ordered the government to freeze all exports of F-35 fighter jets that Israel uses to bomb the Gaza Strip. This ruling is the result of a complaint against the government by Dutch humanitarian organizations Oxfam Novib, PAX Netherlands Peace Movement Foundation and The Rights Forum. On June 19, 2025, during the Iran-Israel War the Dutch embassy was hit causing damage but no injuries.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Israel has an embassy in

. * the Netherlands has an embassy in

. File:Ambassade van Israël, Den Haag.JPG, Embassy of Israel in The Hague

References

External links

Israeli embassy in The Hague

Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Israel (in Dutch only)

Dutch embassy in Tel Aviv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Israel-Netherlands relations

Bilateral relations of the Netherlands

History

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References

External links