ALBAWABA - The Netherlands' caretaker government is in a serious political crisis after all of the New Social Contract Party's (NSC) ministers and state secretaries said they were quitting on Saturday.
The decision was made a day after Foreign Minister Kaspar Veldkamp resigned because the government had not imposed sanctions on Israel for its ongoing military offensive in Gaza since October 2023.
Dutch broadcaster NOS says that the resignations include a number of high-ranking NSC officials, such as the acting Deputy Prime Minister, the acting Ministers of Interior, Education, and Health, and four other state secretaries and ministers.
The decision was made due to major government disagreements over whether to impose more sanctions on Israel for what many ministers called "genocide and starvation" caused by the Gaza war.
Veldkamp, who used to be the foreign minister, said before he quit that the government "did not support significant additional measures against Israel" even though it was still attacking Gaza and building more settlements in the occupied West Bank. "I felt strong resistance within the Cabinet," he said, adding that he had to resign because nothing was being done.
Tensions and Backlash in the Coalition
The resignations caused a strong reaction from the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), one of the main coalition partners. They said that the NSC was making the government less stable.
The VVD said in a statement that they were surprised and upset by the sudden walkout: "Leaving the government in the middle of important talks about how to deal with Netanyahu's policies is irresponsible and makes things even more chaotic," the statement said.
Effects on Dutch Politics and Pressure from Europe
Because of disagreements within the Dutch government, it fell apart on June 3, 2025. A caretaker government stayed in place until new elections in October 2025. But it could take months to put together a stable coalition after that.
The crisis shows that European politics are becoming more divided over Israel's war on Gaza and its settlement policies in the West Bank. It also shows how public opinion in Europe is becoming more and more important, as huge protests in support of Gaza and the Palestinian cause are having a bigger and bigger impact on government policies.
