THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — A trio of human rights organizations returned to court on Friday, arguing the Dutch government is evading a ban on exporting fighter jet parts to Israel by sending them to other countries.
Lawyers for Oxfam Novib, Amnesty International and The Rights Forum told The Hague District Court that Israel is still getting F-35 parts from the Netherlands and may be using them in Gaza.
"The state must actively prevent that parts from the Netherlands reach Israel via a detour," lead lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld said.
Dozens of supporters turned up to the hearing, occasionally giggling when lawyers for the Netherlands were questioned by the judge.
The groups brought the case last year. They say the Netherlands was complicit in war crimes for continuing to send the fighter jet parts despite warnings the exports may run afoul of international law.
“Human rights are put behind or after or lower than political foreign policy interests. That’s amazing given what’s happening in Gaza,” Zegveld told Courthouse News earlier this year.
The Netherlands is home to one of three F-35 European regional warehouses. The fighter jets are owned by the United States, but since 2019 Woensdrecht Air Base has served as a distribution center for spare parts.
The Israeli Air Force placed an order for parts following the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7. The Dutch customs office asked the government if it wanted to proceed with the order, as military goods require an export license, and was given the go-ahead.
In January, the same court ruled the Netherlands could continue to send spare parts. Judges wrote that the government has “a wide degree of freedom” to determine whether or not to send military goods.
The human rights group appealed the decision and prevailed in February when an appeals court ordered a halt to exports to Israel. “There is a clear risk that the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” said Judge Bas Boele before ordering the government to stop sending parts within seven days.
Lawyers for the Netherlands argued that there is no evidence the planes are being used to commit war crimes and imposing a ban would have far reaching consequences.
"The production of new F-35 aircrafts for the Netherlands and our allies would come to a standstill. Moreover, countries would face a shortage of spare parts, which would severely limit the operational deployability of the entire current F-35 fleet worldwide,” lawyer Reimer Veldhuis argued on behalf of the Dutch state.
According to Veldhuis, there was no way to guarantee parts exported from the Netherlands wouldn’t eventually end up in Israel.
The Netherlands has appealed the appellate court decision and that case will be heard by the Dutch Supreme Court in September.
Following the hearing, Zegveld said she was pleased with how it had gone. “We felt it was very clear, that the earlier ruling that parts cannot go to Israel was very clear,” she told Courthouse News.
A decision is expected from the court in two weeks.
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