SAEDNEWS: The Netherlands has labeled Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich personae non gratae, imposing an entry ban on them over calls for settler violence against Palestinians in occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
“The cabinet has therefore decided to declare Israeli ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir persona non grata and is committed to registering them as undesirable aliens in the Schengen registration system,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp announced in a statement released on Monday night, Press TV reported.
He clarified that the ban follows their promotion of settler aggression towards Palestinians, the growth of unlawful Israeli settlements, and their demands for ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
Veldkamp stated that the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands would be summoned, urging the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to alter its current approach, which was described as “intolerable and indefensible.”
The Dutch decision follows similar moves last month by Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway.
The Netherlands is also the second EU country to bar Smotrich and Ben Gvir, after Slovenia announced its own ban earlier this month.
In a statement, the Slovenian government accused the two ministers of inciting “extreme violence and serious violations of the human rights of Palestinians” with “their genocidal statements.”
On Tuesday, Ben-Gvir responded to the measure by the Netherlands, asserting that he would continue to work for the Tel Aviv regime’s sake.
