The Netherlands encourages Jews in the diaspora to criticize Israel

An official document of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs listed as an objective action that "encourages Jewish communities in the diaspora to express their opposition to the occupation".

The statement, which is unusual for European governments offering funding to organizations that they believe promote peace and coexistence between residents of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, was published in a report published earlier this year on the Dutch funding Breaking the Silence group.

Meanwhile, a pro-Israel Dutch group said the previous Dutch envoy to Ramallah had approved the granting of subsidies to an anti-Israeli organization when his son was working there.

Entitled "Evaluation Document of ODA Activities below € 250,000", the Breaking the Silence report included the reference to diaspora communities under the title: "Objective 3: Strengthen the Opposition on the international scene to the prolonged occupation of the OPT by Israel, based on shared common values. . "OPT means" Occupied Palestinian Territories ".

NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based monitoring group that focuses on funding groups of Israeli and Palestinian authorities, has criticized "the intrusion of the ministry into relations between Israel and the diaspora, over the past few years." one of the most delicate questions, "according to the founder of this group, Gerald Steinberg. in a statement on Tuesday.

The Dutch newspaper is the first time that NGO Monitor sees an explicit reference to the internal relations between Jewish communities in an official EU document, said a spokesman for the group.

Chris Bakker, spokesman for Sigrid Kaag, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, declined to answer JTAQuestions about the document, including whether the objectives he specified belonged to his office or Breaking the Silence.

Kaag's ministry has pledged $ 218,000 to break the silence in its budget for 2018. A former UNRWA aid agency employee for aid to Palestinians, Kaag is also the wife of a former diplomat of the Palestinian Authority.

Also on Tuesday, the Israel Center for Information and Documentation, CIDI, said on its website that Peter Mollema, the former representative of the Netherlands in the Palestinian Territories, had approved the report. Grants awarded to Al-Mazen Group in 2016, when his son was working as a trainee.

CIDI called this a "conflict of interest".

Al-Mazen described Israel's policy as "apartheid" and accused it of "ethnic cleansing". He has launched numerous prosecutions against Israel and has been a supporter of the boycott campaign since 2006.

Bakker, the spokesman for the ministry, did not immediately respond to JTARequest for comments on CIDI requests.