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The Netherlands’ Moral Mirror Is Cracking
A view shows the Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in The Hague, Netherlands, April 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
For decades, Israel viewed the Netherlands as one of its most reliable European friends, a nation whose moral compass — forged in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust — pointed firmly against antisemitism and toward Israel’s right to exist in peace.
Dutch diplomacy was measured, its civil society was open, and its historical consciousness ran deep.
But that image of the Netherlands has begun to fracture. Since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war, the Netherlands has witnessed a surge of anti-Israel rhetoric, antisemitic incidents, and violent protests that have shaken Jewish communities and confounded Israelis who long saw the Dutch as allies in both memory and morality.
The numbers tell a sobering story
The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) has reported an 818% increase in antisemitic incidents compared to the pre-October 7 average.
In 2024 alone, 421 incidents were recorded, the highest since the watchdog began systematic monitoring.
These are not abstract statistics; they represent Jewish families harassed, synagogues threatened, and Israelis attacked on Dutch streets.
One shocking example was the “Jew-hunt” in Amsterdam after the Ajax vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv match in November 2024.
What should have been a sporting event spiraled into open violence: Israeli fans chased through the streets, attacked by mobs on scooters, assaulted simply for being visibly Jewish or Israeli. The term “Jew-hunt” was not invented by the press; it came from officials describing what they saw. For many Israelis, this was not a local disturbance, it was a moral alarm bell ringing from a country they once saw as safe ground.
From moral clarity to moral confusion
How did this happen? Why would a nation that still teaches Anne Frank’s story with pride see antisemitism return so visibly to its streets?
Part of the answer lies in the Dutch self-image. The Netherlands prides itself on tolerance, free speech, and moral independence. In recent years, however, those same virtues have created fertile ground for extremism to hide behind “activism.” The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, long a subject of heated debate, has become a proxy battlefield for identity politics, post-colonial guilt, and populist anger.
When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, murdering 1,200 people and abducting hundreds, the global narrative quickly shifted, especially online. In Dutch cities, massive protests filled the streets, some peaceful, many not. Chants of “From the river to the sea” echoed in public squares. At first glance, these may appear as calls for Palestinian statehood. But in practice, they too often turned into calls for Israel’s elimination, and sometimes, for violence against Jews.
The Dutch demographic landscape also plays a role. The country’s growing communities with roots in Muslim-majority countries often bring with them deep identification with the Palestinian cause. That, combined with a small and highly visible Jewish population (less than 1% nationwide), has produced an imbalance in public discourse.
In many cities, Jewish students now report hiding their identity, removing Stars of David, or avoiding public events for fear of harassment.
The power of media and the failure of nuance
Dutch media coverage has also shifted. Complex Israeli security dilemmas are often flattened into emotional images of Gaza’s suffering, stripped of the context of Hamas’ terror infrastructure or its strategy of human shields. Social media compounds the problem, turning outrage into performance, and moral judgment into tribal belonging.
When the moral conversation becomes binary, oppressor versus oppressed, nuance dies first, and Jewish safety follows. This is not about silencing criticism of Israeli policies; it is about recognizing the line between critique and hate, a line that in the Netherlands, like across Europe, has grown dangerously blurred.
A legacy betrayed
There is something deeply tragic about this Dutch transformation. The Netherlands, more than most European nations, has wrestled publicly with its wartime past, with its collaboration, its resistance, and its guilt. Out of that reckoning grew an ethos of “never again,” not just for Jews, but for all peoples. Yet today, that moral inheritance is being hollowed out by selective empathy.
It is one thing to criticize a government; it is another to chase Jews through the streets of Amsterdam. It is one thing to advocate for Palestinian rights; it is another to vandalize offices of Christian organizations that support Israel, accusing them of “backing genocide.” Such behavior is not protest; it is persecution reborn under new slogans.
The test for Dutch democracy
The Netherlands now faces a test not unlike the one that Europe faced in darker times: Will it confront antisemitism wherever it appears, even when it wears the fashionable mask of “anti-Zionism”?
If yes, that means stronger political leadership, consistent law enforcement, and educational courage — and teaching students to distinguish between political dissent and ethnic hatred. It also means insisting that free speech does not include the freedom to terrorize Jewish citizens.
If the Netherlands wants to remain the moral compass it once claimed to be, it must first look in the mirror and admit that the image reflected there is no longer as clear as it once was.
Because the question Israelis now quietly ask is not whether the Netherlands still supports Israel’s right to exist. It’s whether Dutch society still remembers why that right matters.
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High-Stakes US Special Forces Mission Rescues Airman From Iran After F-15 Crash
FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft takes off for a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, March 9, 2026. U.S. Air Force/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
US forces staged the audacious rescue of an airman behind enemy lines after Iran downed his fighter jet, officials said on Sunday, resolving a crisis for President Donald Trump as he weighs escalating the war, now in its sixth week.
The airman rescued by special operations forces, who Trump said was a colonel, was the weapons-systems officer on the downed F-15, a US official told Reuters.
“Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History,” Trump said in a statement, adding that the airman was injured but “he will be just fine.”
The officer was the second of two crew members on the warplane that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defenses. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said several aircraft were destroyed during the US rescue mission, Tasnim news agency reported.
Reuters reported on Friday that the first crew member had been retrieved, triggering a high-profile search by both Iran and the United States for the remaining airman.
Iranian officials had urged citizens to help find him, hoping to gain leverage against Washington in the war Trump and Israel launched on February 28.
Trump has threatened to escalate the conflict in the coming days with attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure.
Had Iran captured the airman, the ensuing hostage crisis could have shifted American public perception of a conflict that opinion polls show was already unpopular.
Trump said the airman was rescued “in the treacherous mountains of Iran” in what he said was the first time in military memory that two US pilots had been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory.
The official told Reuters that as the weapons-systems officer was moved from near a mountain to a transport aircraft parked within Iran, US forces had to destroy at least one of the aircraft because it had malfunctioned.
U.S. AIRCRAFT HIT
The rescue effort, involving dozens of military aircraft, encountered fierce resistance from Iran.
Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search were hit by Iranian fire but escaped from Iranian airspace.
Separately, a pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft after it was hit over Kuwait and crashed, the officials said, though the extent of crew injuries was unclear.
Still, Trump was triumphant.
“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” he said in his statement.
US air crews are trained in what to do if they go down behind enemy lines, measures known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, but few are fluent in Persian and face a challenge in staying undetected while seeking rescue.
The conflict has killed 13 US military service members, with more than 300 wounded, US Central Command says. No US troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.
While Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as being in tatters, they have repeatedly been able to hit US aircraft.
Reuters reported on US intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability. Until just over a week ago, the US could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed about one-third of Iran’s missile arsenal.
The status of about another third was less clear, but bombings probably damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.
The US and Israeli war on Iran has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and hitting the global economy with soaring energy prices that are fueling fears of inflation.
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On Easter, Pope Leo Urges World Leaders to End Wars, Renounce Conquest
Pope Leo XIV waves from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after delivering his “Urbi et Orbi” (To the city and the world) message, on Easter Sunday at the Vatican, April 5, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Leo urged global leaders in his Easter message on Sunday to end the conflicts raging across the world and abandon any schemes for power, conquest or domination.
The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, lamented in a special message to the thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square that people “are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent.”
“Let those who have weapons lay them down!” the first US pope exhorted. “Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace!”
Leo did not mention any specific conflicts in the message, known as the “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing. It was unusually brief and direct.
The pope said that the story of Easter, when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead three days after not resisting his execution by crucifixion, shows that Christ was “entirely nonviolent.”
“On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars,” Leo urged.
Leo, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has been forcefully decrying the world’s violent conflicts in recent weeks and ramping up his criticism of the Iran war.
In a sermon for the Easter vigil on Saturday night, he urged people not to feel numbed by the scope of the conflicts raging across the world but to work for peace.
The pope made a rare direct appeal to US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, urging him to find an “off-ramp” to end the Iran war.
In his address from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday to the Square below, decorated with thousands of brightly colored flowers for the holiday, Leo offered brief Easter greetings in ten languages, including Latin, Arabic and Chinese.
The pope also announced he would return to the Basilica on April 11 to host a prayer vigil for peace.
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Temple Mount Set for Limited Reopening to Jews and Muslims
Israeli National Security Minister and head of Jewish Power party Itamar Ben-Gvir gives a statement to members of the press, ahead of a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Jan. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
i24 News – Israeli authorities are preparing to partially reopen the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to both Jewish and Muslim worshipers for the first time since the start of the war with Iran, under a tightly controlled and highly restricted security arrangement, i24NEWS has learned.
According to details obtained by i24NEWS, the Israeli police, backed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, are also expected to permit limited access for Jewish worshipers to the Western Wall as part of the same phased plan.
Under the framework, access to the Temple Mount and surrounding holy sites would be restricted to small groups of up to 150 people at a time. In the event of a missile alert, all visitors would be immediately evacuated in accordance with emergency protocols.
The decision follows a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing demonstrations in a limited format. Police argue that a consistent standard must apply across both civic gatherings and religious sites, with Ben-Gvir insisting that “there cannot be one rule for demonstrations and another for the Temple Mount.”
However, the reopening contradicts recommendations from the Home Front Command, which has advised keeping sensitive sites closed due to the ongoing risk of missile attacks.
Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin has proposed transferring authority over such security-related decisions exclusively to defense officials, an initiative that could reshape the balance between the judiciary and security establishment regarding restrictions on public access.