Israel has revoked the diplomatic status of Dutch embassy staff in Ramallah. How many people are involved, what their positions are, and what consequences this step will have is not yet known.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X that it is because of the import ban the Netherlands recently imposed on goods from occupied territories. They are pieces of land on the West Bank that Israeli settlers, often with violence, have taken from Palestinians.

It is an exceptional diplomatic step the Israeli government is taking. Earlier, Israel had already wanted to expel two Dutch embassy staff members who worked at the international support center for Gaza (IGCS) in Kiryat Gat but later reversed that.

After Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed, the Dutch government immediately sided with the Israeli government. But because of the war in the Gaza Strip in the years that followed, the relationship has steadily cooled.

In February 2024, the Netherlands stopped the export of parts for the F-35 fighter jet to Israel. That happened after a court ruling. When the Cabinet was later proven right after all, the export of the parts was not resumed.

A month later, then-Prime Minister Mark Rutte threatened sanctions against Israel if that country opened a large-scale attack on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Ultimately no measures were followed, but relations did not improve. The EU did not impose sanctions on violent settlers.

The Cabinet of PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB took no steps against Israel. The PVV has always supported Israel. When Maccabi soccer supporters were attacked in Amsterdam in November 2024, the Israeli government reacted furiously.

After the PVV left the Cabinet last June, the course changed. A month later, the Netherlands put two extremist ministers from the Netanyahu government on the sanctions list. And in September the outgoing Cabinet announced it would introduce an import ban on goods from the settlements.

That step was ultimately taken by the new Cabinet. In May the Council of Ministers approved a trade ban on goods from the settlements that took effect last week.