The Dutch government was ordered on Friday by the highest court in the Netherlands to reevaluate its currently suspended license for exporting parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, in response to concerns they could be used in breaches of international law.
The Supreme Court said an export suspension remains in place while the government reassesses the license. The court's vice-president, Martijn Polak, said the government now has six weeks to reevaluate the license.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said an appeals court in The Hague overstepped its authority when it banned the transfer of F-35 parts to Israel in February 2024, citing concerns they could be used in breaches of international law. The ruling led the government to suspend the exports.
The ruling comes as Israel continues its genocidal offensive against Gaza and at a time of political flux in the Netherlands, with national elections scheduled for Oct. 29 and the current government in caretaker mode.
The case was originally brought in late 2023 by three Dutch rights groups who argued that transferring the F-35 parts makes the Netherlands complicit in possible war crimes being committed by Israel in its campaign in Gaza.
The district court in The Hague initially rejected the ban, but in February 2024, an appeals panel ordered the Dutch government to halt shipments of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, citing a clear risk of violations of international law. The government appealed to the Supreme Court, saying that foreign policy was a matter for the government, not courts.
"The Court of Appeal was not entitled to make its own assessment of whether there is clear risk of serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the Supreme Court said in a written summary of its ruling. It added that "the Minister must reassess the license based on that criterion."
The Netherlands is home to one of three regional warehouses for U.S.-owned F-35 parts. Dutch government lawyers argue that a ban on transfers from the Netherlands would effectively be meaningless, as the United States would deliver the parts anyway.
Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,200 Palestinians, mainly women and children, and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to local health officials.
In August, Slovenia announced it was banning the import, export and transit of all weapons to and from Israel, calling it the first such move by a European Union member.
Last year, the U.K. government suspended exports of some weapons to Israel because they could be used to break international law. Spain says it halted arms sales to Israel in October 2023. There are also court cases in France and Belgium around the weapons trade with Israel.
