Netherlands bans West Bank settlement goods

According to Reuters, on Thursday the Dutch government also barred two extremist Israeli ministers from entering the Schengen area.

In an official statement, the Dutch government declared that Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, its finance minister, are prohibited from entering all Schengen member states.

According to the report—also confirmed by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz—the relevant Dutch council designated these two senior Israeli officials as personae non gratae and registered the entry ban in the Schengen Information System (SIS).

This decision means that the borders of all 29 Schengen member countries, which include most European nations, will be closed to the two ministers, and border authorities are required to enforce the order.

The move comes in response to the extremist positions and controversial policies of these two ministers.