Dutch far right leader Geert Wilders has attacked “Europe” for its “cheap criticism of Israel on a daily basis” in an English language social media post.

Wilders, a known supporter of the West Bank settlements and opponent of the two-state solution, said on X on Tuesday that he had spoken by phone to Israeli foreign minister Israel Kats.

“I assured him of my full support for Israel in its existential war against Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorists”, Wilders, who is hoping to be the next Dutch prime minister, said.

The post came just days after caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte again appealed to Israel to reduce the level of force it is using in Gaza, and said that large-scale military action in Rafah, where over one million people have gathered because of the bombing, would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences

Wilders, whose far right PVV is now the biggest party in parliament, has come under fire for his continued use of social media during the negotiations to form a new government.

He has been involved in online spats with his potential coalition partners, called for the deportation of Eritrean refugees who rioted in The Hague last weekend, and circulated a fake video on social media purporting to show a young man urinating on packed pork in a supermarket.

Earlier this week he said on X that Ukrainians are coming to the Netherlands “en masse” for free housing, healthcare and “our jobs”. The Netherlands, he said, “is again the village idiot of Europe”.

Meanwhile, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has accused Wilders and other far-right leaders in Europe of working with Vladimir Putin to “destroy” the EU.

At her press conference in Berlin on Monday, Von der Leyen said the security of the EU and its democratic structures would be a key issue during the European Parliament elections in June, when parties such as Wilders’s PVV and the German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) are forecast to make gains.