In 1969, I moved to Rotterdam to help found the Thoraxcenter at Erasmus University. There I met my first wife. We lived in the Netherlands for five years, and both of our sons were born there. I became fluent in Dutch, a skill I have retained. My wife and I had agreed that our sons would be raised Jewish. She eventually converted as well.
While we met a few Dutch Jews (our closest friends were Jewish), there were not many in the Netherlands to meet. Before the Holocaust, about 140,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands. That was about 1.5% of the population, less than half the share in the USA at the time. Today the Jewish population is about 35,000, or around 0.2% of the population, roughly the same as the percentage of Jews worldwide. And it will keep shrinking, as the death rate exceeds the birth rate.
Jews had played an important role in the development of the Netherlands until WWII. There were many brave Dutch people who sheltered and protected Jews (the story of Anne Frank is just one example). But the Dutch largely failed to save their Jewish fellow citizens. Denmark saved nearly all of its Jews. In Italy and France, around three-quarters or more survived. In the Netherlands, only about 26% survived.
I have always identified, and continue to identify, as a Zionist. After my sons were born, I realized that I could not raise them in the Netherlands, a country that had become literally a graveyard for Jews. My wife agreed, and we emigrated to Israel in 1974 and stayed until 1979 when we moved to the USA. I returned to Israel again in 2015 where I stayed for another eight years. I have been a Zionist my whole life, meaning that I believe there had to be a Jewish homeland. I still hold that view. That does not mean I support the actions of the current Israeli government, just as I do not support the actions of the American government.
I am writing this post because I am outraged at the recent actions of the Dutch government. Since 22 September 2026, the Netherlands has banned travelers from bringing in goods made wholly or partly in Israeli settlements that the Dutch government considers unlawful. This includes souvenirs, gifts and items for personal use, even if they were bought before the ban. Customs may inspect luggage and ask travelers to prove where a product came from. Prohibited goods can be seized, and the Public Prosecution Service says violations can bring fines or up to six years in prison.
In its first week, Dutch customs reportedly singled out passengers arriving on El Al flights from Tel Aviv for luggage searches, including travelers who had gone through the “nothing to declare” lane. A country that failed its Jews so badly eighty years ago, and where so few Jews remain, is now pulling aside travelers from Israel to search their bags for a bottle of wine or a jar of Dead Sea mud. I would have hoped the Netherlands, of all countries, would think twice before doing that.
The situation is complex. The Dutch definition of occupied territories includes the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed (recognized by the USA but not by many other countries); parts of the Dead Sea shore; suburbs of Jerusalem; the established Jewish city of Ariel; and settlements that are clearly in the West Bank, including outposts that are illegal even under Israeli law. The ban demonstrates, at best, the ignorance of the Dutch officials who drafted it. The Druze of the Golan can choose Israeli citizenship, and a growing number have. What do the people who wrote this ban hope to accomplish? Do they think Israel will give back the Golan Heights to a Syria whose future is still uncertain, so that Israeli farmers in the valleys below could once again come under fire?
If this ban succeeds, it will hurt Palestinians as much or more than Israeli Jews. Many Palestinians work in settlement factories and farms, including along the west side of the Dead Sea. When those businesses lose their markets, those workers lose their jobs.
Meanwhile, products made with child or forced labor can still be sold in Dutch shops. The European Union’s ban on goods made with forced labor will not take effect until the end of 2027. The ban on a souvenir from Ariel took effect two months after it was published.
Fifty-two years ago, I decided I could not raise my sons in the Netherlands. I take no pleasure in saying that the Dutch government has just reminded me why.
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