Netherlands

Profile

Country/TerritoryNetherlands

Activity

Background

  • The Netherlands funds numerous Israeli and Palestinian NGOs directly through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Embassy in Tel Aviv, and the Representative Office in Ramallah (NRO), and indirectly through Dutch organizations, Oxfam-Novib and the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO).
  • According to the Dutch MFA’s “Human Rights Report 2023,” the Netherlands provided over €2 million in direct and indirect funding to human rights NGOs operating in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.
  • Revealing a lack of transparency, in 2021, the new Dutch government Development Aid Portal removed the names of “implementing organisation(s)” on multiple project in areas designated as “Palestinian territories.” The Development Aid Portal does not display names of implementing partners or NGOs receiving Dutch funding on multiple projects in areas designated as “Palestinian territories.”
  • In January 2022, the Dutch Foreign Minister announced that the Netherlands will cease all funding to the Union of Agricultural Works Committee (UAWC). According to the Minister, an “external investigation of the UAWC made it sufficiently plausible that there had been ties at individual level between employees and board members of UAWC and the PFLP for some time.” The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is a designated terrorist organization by the USEUCanada, and Israel. (See more on UAWC below.)
  • In June 2016, the Dutch Parliament passed a resolution calling for “the ending of funding to organizations that directly or indirectly pursue a boycott or sanctions against Israel.”

Developments Following October 7th

  • Following the October 7th atrocities, the Netherlands pledged an additional €10 million in humanitarian assistance for Gaza. According to the Minister of Development, these funds are intended for food, water, and medical care for Gaza’s inhabitants. The Dutch contribution is earmarked for unnamed NGOs and UN organizations, and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

Direct Funding

Funding via Representative Office in Ramallah (NRO)

NRO Funding to Palestinian NGOs

NRO Funding to Israeli NGOs

Funding via Embassy in Tel Aviv

  • The Embassy in Tel Aviv does not publish details on NGO funding. According to information submitted by Israeli NGOs to the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits, the Embassy allocated NIS 849,940 to Israeli NGOs from 2018-2021.
  • Beginning in 2019, all funding to Israeli NGOs was allocated via the NRO (see above) under the project RAM CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUPPORT.

Lack of Transparency

  • The Development Aid Portal does not display names of implementing partners or NGOs receiving Dutch funding for multiple projects in areas designated as “Palestinian territories.” 
  • Project in PALESTINIAN ADMIN. AREAS (2024-2026)
    • Sectors: Human Rights
    • Budget: €3 million
    • Implementing organisation(s):DONOR COUNTRY-BASED NGO
  • Sawasya III – Reinforcing equal access to justice for all Palestinians (2024-2028)
    • Sectors: Legal and judicial development
    • Budget: €23.25 million
    • Implementing organisation(s):UNDP
  • Project in PALESTINIAN ADMIN. AREAS (2020-2025)
    • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
    • Budget: €2.6 million
    • Implementing organisation(s):Donor Country-Based Ngo Group
  • Project in Ramallah (2018-2024)
    • Sectors: Legal and judicial development
    • Budget: €17.37 million
    • Implementing organisation(s): United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
  •  Project in Ramallah (2020-2023)
    • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
    • Budget:  €328,116
    • Implementing organisation(s): No organisation name specified
  • Project in Ramallah (2020-2021)
    • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
    • Budget: €152,000
    • Implementing organisation(s):  Multiple Parties
  • Project in Ramallah (2019-2021)
    • Sectors: Multisector aid
    • Budget: €5.95 mln
    • Implementing organisation(s):  No organisation name specified
  • Project in Palestinian admin. Areas (2017-2021)
    • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
    • Budget: €999,480
    • Implementing organisation(s):  Donor Country-Based Ngo Group
  • Project in Palestinian admin. Areas (2021-2024)
    • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
    • Budget: €299,750    
    • Implementing organisation(s): No organisation name specified
  • Project in Palestinian admin. Areas (2021)
    • Sectors: Sectors not specified
    • Budget: €377,218    
    • Implementing organisation(s): Developing Country-Based Ngo Group
  • Project in Ramallah (2020-2021)
    • Sectors: Human Rights
    • Budget: €158,891
    • Implementing organisation(s): No organisation name specified

Indirect Funding

SOMO (Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations)

  • In 2017-2023, SOMO received €1.8 million from the Netherlands for “Countering corporate strategies for creating, maintaining and exploiting human rights.”
  • SOMO’s research claims to “expose[] the corporate impunity that characterises the business-as-usual approach of many multinationals operating in occupied Palestine. Through activities like tourism and the unlawful exploitation of Palestinian natural resources such as stone, gas, and agricultural products, these corporations actively support Israel’s illegal settlement economy.”
  • In October 2023, in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas atrocities, SOMO published a statement claiming, “The grave abuses we are watching unfold did not start after 7 October. For decades, the Palestinian people have been subjected to systemic abuse, apartheid and war crimes under cover of a blanket of impunity granted by third states.”
  • In June 2024, SOMO and Al-Haq Europe commissioned a legal opinion to “examine the legal consequences of the ICJ’s order for Third States and corporations.” The opinion recommends implementing an “Arms embargo… Sanctions …. [and] Criminal and administrative proceedings” against Israel.
  • In November 2023, SOMO, alongside European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Al-Haq, and the Rights Forum, filed a criminal complaint with the Dutch Public Prosecutor accusing Booking.com of “laundering funds obtained from the commission of war crimes” and being “instrumental in facilitating the criminal Israeli settlement enterprise.” In May 2024, Booking.com rejected the allegations and affirmed, “we will permit listings anywhere in the world unless legally prohibited by the domestic laws…Currently, there are no applicable laws that prohibit listing properties in Israeli Settlements in the West Bank.”
  • In May 2024, SOMO initiated a campaign, including  a legal briefing, calling for “an embargo on jet fuel and crude oil” against Israel.

Oxfam-Novib

PAX

  • PAX Netherlands is the Dutch affiliate of Pax Christi, a “Catholic peace movement with 120 member organisations.” Within the PAX umbrella, PAX Netherlands plays a leading role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, including demonization and other anti-Israel campaigns. 
  • In 2022, total budget was €19 million; total expenses were €16.6 million.
  • According to its annual report, Netherlands contributed over €12 million to PAX in 2022.
  • Other donors include Switzerland, European Union, United States, Germany, Misereor, Caritas, National Postcode Lottery, Sigrid Rausing Trust, and Open Society Institute.
  • In November 2023, PAX, alongside Amnesty International, Oxfam Novib, and the Rights Forum, announced they were suing the Netherlands for “continuing to export arms to Israel.” The lawsuit demanded “the immediate cessation of the supply of parts for Israeli F35 fighter planes.” A Dutch court rejected the lawsuit, noting that the government, “‘weighed the relevant interests’ before agreeing to the delivery of parts.” It stated that the “Dutch government [has] a large degree of freedom when it comes to weighing political and policy issues in deciding on arms exports.”
  • In April 2023, PAX hosted a podcast marking the “Nakba,” an Arabic word used to describe the establishment of the State of Israel as a “catastrophe.” PAX repeated this term to declare Israel as inherently illegitimate and to push for a Palestinian “right of return” that would result in the elimination of the Jewish state.
  • In February 2022, PAX published a report titled “Does apartheid exist in Israel and occupied Palestine?” calling for the Netherlands to “commit to international investigations into apartheid in Israel and occupied Palestine” and to “draw up a list of effective countermeasures against violations of international law by the State of Israel. This should include both measures which can be taken unilaterally and measures taken in EU context with like-minded countries.”

Kerk in Actie

Funding via the United Nations

Funding to the World Food Program

Dutch Funding to Israeli and Palestinian NGOs

NGOMechanismAmountYear
Union of Agricultural Works Committee (UAWC)NRO€11.5 million2017-2021
€8,400,0002013-2018
€13,000,000 2017-2021
Al MezanNRO€202,0552018-2019
€192,2802018
Palestinian Working Woman Society for DevelopmentNRO€83,600 2018
Independent Commission for Human Rights NRO€623,113 2017-2020
€770,993 2017-2019
AMAN CoalitionNRO€961,028 2013-2018
Breaking the Silence NRO €191,8402018
B’TselemNRO€167,2002018
MFANIS 7,1152017
GishaEmbassy TLV€62,7002018
BimkomEmbassy TLV€75,2402018
Yesh DinNRO€160,9302018
Public Committee Against Torture in IsraelNRO€26,7802018
HaMokedEmbassy TLVNIS 7,2802017
Comet-MENRO€615,5242019
€852,2232018
€816,6952017
MUSAWANRO€1,300,0002016-2019
Association for Civil Rights in IsraelEmbassy TLVNIS 140,4372016
Geneva InitiativeEmbassy TLVNIS 209,9932018

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