Today, with Oxfam Novib and The Rights Forum, we are celebrating a crucial victory for humanitarian law. On 3 October, the Supreme Court instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs to reassess the export licence for parts for F-35 fighter jets with Israel as their final destination. The Minister was explicitly instructed to apply the correct criteria, namely whether there is a clear risk that the export of F-35 parts to Israel contributes to serious violations of humanitarian law. Today, the Dutch government finally recognises its own obligations under international law and enforces the order issued by the Hague court in February 2024 to ban the export of F-35 parts to Israel.
As early as November 2023, it was clear to us that there were significant risks that Israel was violating international law with its disproportionate use of force in Gaza. Despite these obvious risks, the Netherlands decided to continue exporting F-35 parts to Israel, in violation of its own export regulations. That is why we, in collaboration with Oxfam Novib and The Rights Forum, have initiated legal proceedings to ban these exports.
In just over two years, Israel has killed over 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza and made almost the entire area virtually uninhabitable. This campaign of destruction was announced by Israeli government leaders and carried out step by step by Netanyahu’s government. Throughout this period, the Netherlands has refused to take the decision to halt the export of F-35 components to Israel and the government has decided to do everything in its power to have the export ban, which has been in force since February 2024, overturned. We found and continue to find this unacceptable.
Rolien Sasse, director of PAX: ‘Israel has deployed F-35 fighter jets on a large scale over Gaza, with catastrophic consequences for civilians. The Dutch arms export rules are specifically intended to prevent Dutch components from being used for war crimes. The Netherlands now recognises that there is still a clear risk of violations of the laws of war. As long as that risk remains, the Netherlands must continue to suspend deliveries. We are monitoring this closely and will return to court if necessary.’
Liesbeth Zegveld, our lawyer representing the three organisations: ‘The Supreme Court’s order to reassess the correct frameworks was necessary because, over the past two years, the Dutch government has at no point shown any willingness to respect the legal frameworks and export rules that exist to protect citizens. It is scandalous that a court case was necessary to persuade the government to do so. Fortunately, the Netherlands has a strong constitutional state that we can fall back on in times of political unwillingness, and which can take corrective action if the government fails to comply with its own legal rules.’
The outcome of this legal battle is clear. Since 12 February 2024, no Dutch F35 parts have been exported directly to Israel. We are pleased with this result; the Netherlands should not contribute in any way to Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.
