Nearly half of Dutch voters say Gaza is an issue in the election

Two-fifths of voters in the Netherlands say the conflict in Gaza will be a factor in deciding how they cast their vote in next month’s election.

In a poll by Motivaction commissioned by human rights organisations, 42% said Gaza would influence their choice of party either slightly or a great deal, while 39% said it would make little or no difference.

For the first time more than half of Dutch voters say Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, with the proportion rising from 48% to 54% since April.

One in eight voters (12%) disagreed with the statement, while one in five did not know or had no opinion – down from 29% at the last poll.

Roelien Sasse, executive director of PAX, one of the organisations that commissioned the research, said: “The Dutch population are seeing war crime after war crime in Gaza and want the government to draw a clear red line.”

In July two Israeli NGOs, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, described the situation in Gaza as genocide, adding their voices to international organisations such as Amnesty International.

The International Association of Genocide Scholars and a United Nations investigative committee have both recently endorsed the term, but Dutch foreign affairs minister David van Weel has said the government will only so once there is a judgment by the International Court of Justice, which will take years.

A majority of Dutch voters say the government should impose sanctions against Israel, with 57% calling for a ban on trade with illegal settlements on the West Bank. Some 54% say the EU should no longer give Israel any advantages on trade, while 53% support an embargo on arms exports.

The cabinet recently revoked three licences for arms exports to Israel and said new permits are “more or less excluded”, but it has stopped short of enforcing an absolute ban.