Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the Otzma Yehudit party (r), and Religious Zionist Party chief Bezalel Smotrich at an election campaign event in Sderot, October 26, 2022. (Flash90)
Netherlands announces that two senior Israeli government ministers have been declared persona non grata in treaty zone spanning most of the European continent; European Union pushes new sanctions against Israel.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
Two senior Israeli government ministers have been declared persona non grata across most of Europe, the Dutch government announced on Tuesday, as the European Union considers sanctions against Israel.
“The Cabinet decided to declare the ministers persona non grata,” the Netherlands said, referring to Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party).
A statement by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs defended the move, saying it was taken under “exceptional circumstances.”
The Netherlands had already banned the two ministers from entering the country on July 29. The latest step by the Dutch government registers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir in the Schengen Information System (SIS) blacklist.
Twenty-nine European countries, including 25 of the 27 member states of the European Union and four non-member states, are members of the Schengen Area — an open-border zone established in 1995 that allows free travel within most of the continent.
Under the terms of the Schengen Agreement and Schengen Convention, all 29 member states are required to honor travel bans entered into the SIS, thus effectively prohibiting Smotrich and Ben-Gvir from entering any part of the Schengen Area, including Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and Hungary, among others.
The move came after Spain announced that it has banned Ben-Gvir and Smotrich from entering the country, a day after an Israeli ban on two far-left Spanish government ministers.
Israel’s foreign minister said Monday that Spanish Labor Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz and Youth Minister Sira Rego would not be permitted to enter Israel and Israeli government agencies would be barred from cooperating with them.
Separately, the European Union is mulling economic measures against Israel along with sanctions targeting Israeli ministers and Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria who have been accused of violence against Palestinians.
EU President Ursula von der Leyen vowed in a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday that the European Commission will suspend parts of a key trade agreement with Israel and impose personal sanctions on “extremist ministers” in Israel.
“What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable,” von der Leyen said. “We will propose sanctions on the extremist ministers and on violent settlers.”
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