Dutch Supreme Court orders government to reevaluate Israel weapons exports
The Netherlands’ Supreme Court has ruled the government must reassess its policies for exporting arms to Israel as its war on Gaza continues to draw global condemnation.
While the court did not uphold a ban on the export of parts for F35 fighter jets ordered by a lower court last year, it said the government needs to review by itself the risk of such parts being used in violation of international law.
It gave the government six weeks to finish the review, during which the export of fighter jet parts will still be banned.
Numerous Western countries have already stopped or heavily restricted weapons exports to Israel during the Gaza war, including Germany, Canada, Spain, Italy and Belgium.
‘Dutch Supreme Court decision did not change rules on F-35 parts’
Leon Castellanos-Jankiewicz, senior researcher at the Asser Institute for International and European Law in The Hague, says a recent Dutch Supreme Court ruling has not made any changes to the situation regarding exports of F-35 parts from the Netherlands.
The court’s ruling urged the government to review its policies on weapons exports to Israel because of the ongoing war on Gaza.
“The upshot of this decision is that arms exports from the Netherlands in respect to the F-35 programme remain frozen,” Castellanos-Jankiewicz told Al Jazeera from the German city of Frankfurt.
“The Supreme Court has not changed that decision from the lower court, and said there has to be a new risk assessment determination in order to see whether the Dutch government could continue."
