Israel recalls its ambassador to Netherlands over remarks about Ben-Gvir and Smotrich

Detailed summary

Zvi Aviner Vapni told a Dutch newspaper he felt 'no need whatsoever to protect' far-right ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, calling illegal Israeli settlers 'hooligans and Jewish terrorists'.

Israel ordered its ambassador to the Netherlands to return immediately on Wednesday after he condemned remarks by two far-right Israeli ministers and said he felt no obligation to defend them.

The Foreign Ministry summoned Zvi Aviner Vapni to explain comments he made in an interview with the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, the Israel Hayom daily reported.

Vapni also called violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank “hooligans and Jewish terrorists.”

“They should all go to prison,” he said. “I think 80 percent of Israelis agree with that. That violence must stop. I do not want to defend it; what they are doing is reprehensible.”

The recall comes amid strained relations between Israel and the Netherlands.

Around 200,000 demonstrators dressed in red marched through Amsterdam on Sunday, demanding action against Israel and carrying signs calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza.

In late August, the Netherlands banned imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel retaliated by expelling Dutch representatives from the Civil-Military Coordination Centre in Kiryat Gat, which oversees arrangements relating to Gaza.

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