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Dutch Parliament Conditions Palestinian NGO Funding on Recognition of Israel
Pro-Palestinian protesters face Dutch police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Esther Verkaik
The Dutch Parliament passed a resolution on Tuesday to make funding for Palestinian NGOs depend on their recognition of Israel’s right to exist.
The Dutch House of Representatives passed a resolution by a margin of 70-67 requiring greater transparency from NGOs, including detailed information about board members and funded projects, while ensuring that subsidized organizations align with the Netherlands’ foreign policy, including recognition of the state of Israel.
The motion also addresses terror ties, citing the Netherlands’ decision to halt subsidies to the Ramallah-based Union of Agricultural Work Committee (UAWC) following a terror attack by employees with ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization.
Last year, Dutch lawmakers discovered that the previous government had continued funding a terror-linked NGO, despite knowing they had subsidized the salaries of two Palestinians convicted in the 2019 murder of a 17-year-old Israeli girl.
These two Palestinians were members of the PFLP, while also being employed by the UAWC, which has received over 20 million euros in funding from the Dutch government over the past decade.
In 2020, the government suspended funding to the UAWC pending an investigation into the 2019 bombing.
This week’s resolution also came two months after a violent attack in Amsterdam against visiting Israeli soccer fans by a mob of rioters, many of them Muslim.
Olga Deutsch, vice president of NGO Monitor, an independent Jerusalem-based research organization, explained that the lack of vetting and oversight mechanisms has allowed billions of euros to be diverted to antisemitic, anti-Israel, and terror-affiliated organizations.
“The need to change these practices became even more salient following the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023,” she told the Algemeiner.
Deutsch pointed out that the Dutch government supported numerous organizations that misused aid funds, with a large portion being directed toward political warfare against Israel and the global Jewish community.
This “endangers the safety of global Jewish communities … as it radicalizes discourse, spreads fear, and promotes narratives that translate into attacks against Jews,” she added.
Last year, NGO Monitor presented a report to the Dutch Parliament warning that foreign aid to Palestinian organizations was being misused for terrorism and radicalism.
NGO Monitor revealed that from 2021 to 2027, Dutch government grantees included NGOs involved in anti-Israel campaigns.
These included Al Mezan, which engages in legal action against Israel and has ties to PFLP and Hamas; the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), which collaborates with terror groups such as Hamas, PFLP, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ); and Oxfam-Novib, which, along with other organizations, sued the Netherlands in 2023 to stop arms exports to Israel.
Deutsch emphasized that the latest resolution is crucial as global discussions unfold about Gaza’s future post-ceasefire, urging the international community to rethink and restructure aid distribution.
“The donor community must ensure that aid is not diverted to Hamas and other terror organizations, as was the case before Oct. 7,” she said.
During this legislative session, the Dutch Parliament also adopted a motion urging the government to support Gaza reconstruction plans and fundraising efforts.
However, lawmakers rejected several proposals related to Israel and the Palestinians, including one to tighten labeling and tariff enforcement on Israeli settlements. They also denied motions to link Dutch aid for Gaza’s reconstruction to Dutch companies and restrict it to civilian infrastructure, as well as to provide January funding to UNRWA, the controversial UN agency for Palestinian refugees that has come under fire for several links to Hamas.
The post Dutch Parliament Conditions Palestinian NGO Funding on Recognition of Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netflix Premieres Adult Animated Comedy Series About Jewish Family
A scene from “Long Story Short.” Photo: Screenshot
Netflix premiered on Friday an adult animated comedy series from “BoJack Horseman” creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg that follows a Jewish family over the course of several decades.
“Long Story Short” revolves around Naomi Schwartz (Lisa Edelstein), Elliot Cooper (Paul Reiser), and their three children – Avi (Ben Feldman), Shira (Abbi Jacobson), and Yoshi (Max Greenfield). The series jumps between time, and viewers follow the Schwooper siblings “from childhood to adulthood and back again, chronicling their triumphs, disappointments, joys, and compromises,” according to a synopsis provided by Netflix.
The extended cast includes Nicole Byer as Shira’s partner and Angelique Cabral. Dave Franco and Michaela Dietz are recurring guest stars. The first episode starts in 1996 and focuses on Avi bringing his girlfriend home to meet his family the same weekend as Yoshi’s bar mitzvah celebration. The episode also addresses Jewish-related topics such as the laws of kosher and the Holocaust.
“I think the show in some ways is about Jewish joy, and I think a lot of Jews will enjoy having a place for the Jews, and I think a lot of antisemites might learn a thing or two,” Bob-Waksberg told Variety on Monday at the show’s premiere at the Tudum Theater in Hollywood, California.
“Long Story Short” – which is Bob-Waksberg’s fourth animated show (“BoJack Horseman,” “Undone,” and “Tuca & Bertie”) and his third with Netflix – was renewed for a second season ahead of its season one premiere. The showrunner told The Hollywood Reporter that “Long Story Short” is “absolutely the most explicitly Jewish thing by a wide margin.”
The show is already facing antisemitic criticism.
“We’ve never not had antisemitism,” he told Variety. “The harassment is already there. I don’t think there’s a Jew in Hollywood, a public, a visible person that doesn’t get constantly harassed on Instagram all day long. An article came out this morning, it was a profile of the show, and I stupidly skimmed the first few comments and they were all … just nothing I want to repeat. But it’s just a buzzkill.”
“People are going to want to talk about the greater global geopolitical issues that are happening around this show, but this show is not about that,” he added.
“Long Story Short” is also from “Samurai Jack” creator Genndy Tartakovsky and “Rick and Morty” writer Matt Roller. Bob-Waksberg is an executive producer alongside Noel Bright and Steven A. Cohen. Corey Campodonico and Alex Bulkley are co-executive producers.
Watch the trailer for “Long Story Short” below.
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Iran, European Powers Agree to Resume Nuclear, Sanctions Talks Next Week
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran, Iran, July 12, 2025. Photo: Hamid Forootan/Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and his French, British, and German counterparts agreed on Friday to resume talks next week on nuclear and sanctions issues, Iranian state media reported.
The three major European powers have threatened to re-activate United Nations sanctions on Iran under a “snapback” mechanism if Tehran does not return to negotiations on a deal to curb its disputed uranium enrichment program.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul confirmed talks next week and warned Iran that sanctions would snap back into effect unless it reached a verifiable and durable deal to defuse concerns about its nuclear ambitions. He reiterated that time was very short and Iran needed to engage substantively.
Iranian state media said Araqchi and the British, French, and German foreign ministers agreed during a phone call for deputy foreign ministers to continue the talks on Tuesday.
During the call, Araqchi “emphasized the legal and moral incompetence of these countries to resort to the [snapback] mechanism, and warned of the consequences of such an action,” Iranian media reported.
The European trio, along with the US, contend that Iran is using the nuclear energy program to potentially develop weapons capability in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran says it seeks only civilian nuclear power.
The Islamic Republic suspended nuclear negotiations with the United States, which were aimed at curbing its accelerating enrichment program, after the US and Israel bombed its nuclear sites during a 12-day war in June.
Since then, inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, have been unable to access Iran‘s nuclear installations, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain essential.
Iran and the three European powers last convened in Geneva on June 20, while the war was still raging, and there were few signs of progress.
Iran‘s state broadcaster said an Iranian delegation was due to travel to Vienna on Friday to meet with IAEA officials. It gave no further details.
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German Government Calls Recognition of Palestinian State ‘Counterproductive’
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a joint press conference with Finnish Prime Minister in Turku, Finland, on May 27, 2025. Photo: Lehtikuva/Roni Rekomaa via REUTERS
A German government spokesman said on Friday that Berlin has no current plans to recognize a Palestinian state because that would undermine any efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution with Israel.
“A negotiated two-state solution remains our goal, even if it seems a long way off today … The recognition of Palestine is more likely to come at the end of such a process, and such decisions would now be rather counterproductive,” the spokesperson said during a press conference.
Countries including Australia, United Kingdom, France, and Canada have recently said they would recognize a Palestinian state under different conditions.
Israel has responded that such recognition would be a “reward” for terrorism following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. During the ensuing war in Gaza, Hamas has embedded its weapons and military operation centers among civilian sites, a strategy that critics have decried as employing the use of “human shields” against Israel.