Dutch police refuse to guard Jewish sites over 'moral dilemmas,' officers say

Officers in the Dutch police force have been refusing to protect Jewish targets, two officers told Nieuw Israëlisch Weekblad earlier this week.

Marcel de Weerd and Michel Theeboom, representing the Jewish Police Network, expressed concerns over changes they were seeing in the force.

“There are colleagues who no longer want to protect Jewish targets or events. They talk about ‘moral dilemmas,’ and I see a tendency emerging to give in to that. That would truly mark the beginning of the end. I’m concerned about that,” Theeboom said.

Adding to Theeboom’s claims, De Weerd said, “We see that leadership is struggling with this. Especially now, with the conflict in the Middle East, we risk drifting away from what we should stand for as a collective. We need to keep discussing this with each other.”

De Weerd also claimed that many of the younger officers he had encountered were ignorant of the country’s history, including the police’s role in World War II.

The officers later spoke with De Telegraaf, where they said that some members of the police expressed they didn’t want to be deployed at the Dutch National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam and refused food and drinks from the venue.

Mireille Beentjes, the police force's spokeswoman, told De Telegraaf she had heard of officers making moral objections, admitting there were “no strict policies.”

“We take moral objections into account when creating schedules. But if there’s an urgent task, you will be deployed, whether you want to or not," she said. “You are expected to behave professionally. Others shouldn’t notice anything.”

Beentjies claimed officers had been made to guard institutes and events that they found morally objectionable in other circumstances.

“It pains them when the Quran is burned, but at the same time, they still have to protect the people who do it,” Beentjes stressed.

According to the Brussels Signal, Commissioner of the Dutch National Police Janny Knol claimed, “Police officers are human beings and have the right to their own opinions and emotions.” However, he stressed, “But when it comes to people’s safety, that is our top priority. We are here for everyone. That is the foundation of our work as police officers.”

Nine Kooiman, President of the Dutch National Police Union, reportedly added, “If you keep giving in to everyone, there’s no end to it. You are in service of society and must be able to distance yourself from your personal considerations and emotions. A professional attitude.”

Koen Simmers, another official at the union, said, “It is unacceptable that there are police officers who refuse to carry out tasks and orders, such as protecting Jewish, Christian, Islamic institutions, demonstrations, or social events.

“The police are there for everyone. Moral objections may exist and are expressed, but if you are not prepared to protect everyone, then you have chosen the wrong job.”

Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders condemned officers refusing to guard Jewish institutes. 

Onacceptabel. Als een agent geen joodse objecten wil bewaken is dat reden voor ontslag. https://t.co/7UmmevQVuE

— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) October 1, 2024

“Unacceptable. If an officer does not want to guard Jewish objects, that is grounds for dismissal,” Wilders wrote on X/Twitter.

The threats faced by Dutch Jews

In the Netherlands, much like the rest of the Diaspora, antisemitic incidents significantly increased after Hamas’s October 7 attacks - an increase of over 800%, according to the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel. 

In March, pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside the opening of a Holocaust museum in Amsterdam. President Isaac Herzog had attended the opening.

In April, a former hostage released from Hamas captivity was verbally abused by Dutch airport staff. In the same month, Dutch Rabbi Aryeh Leib Heintz told The Jerusalem Post that he was violently assaulted in an antisemitic incident in Utrecht. 

More recently, Germany arrested a teenager being groomed to carry out an attack on Dutch Jews while on a school trip to Holland.