A public scandal has erupted in the Netherlands after career diplomats accused incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte in an open letter of withholding Israel-related information and reports on the Gaza Strip in order to secure US support for the post of NATO secretary general, reports EFE agency, quotes. from Agerpres.

Rutte, who is acting as interim representative during difficult negotiations to form a new government after last November’s general election, has been accused by a group of officials at the Dutch foreign ministry and his own office of “hiding negative information” and maintaining “tight control”. over reports about Israel related to the war in Gaza to “protect” its support from Washington.

The letter, published Monday by the Dutch daily NRC, was also submitted to the Court of Appeal in the capital The Hague in support of a legal action against the Dutch state after it supplied Israel with parts for F-35 fighter jets despite the war in the Gaza Strip.

The anonymously published letter was written by a group of about 20 civil servants and diplomats who criticize the Dutch government’s official stance on the Israeli military offensive in the Palestinian enclave. The document accuses Rutte of concealing negative information about Israel and mentions that “the role (in monitoring communications) of the Ministry of General Affairs (Rutte’s office) is extremely visible.”

Serious allegations against Mark Rutte

The signatories of the letter also note that they received a request in which they were asked:

“What can we say to make it appear that Israel is not committing war crimes?”.

The letter accuses Rutte of trying to “conceal” “politically sensitive” information about Israel, such as “possible violations of international humanitarian law,” in order to protect his candidacy for the post of NATO secretary general, given that whoever replaces him in that position Post Jens Stoltenberg will first of all need the support of the USA, Israel’s ally.

The Dutch foreign ministry rejected the approach of the group of officials, calling their letter “extremely malicious”, “completely inappropriate” and “unfounded”, while denying that they were trying to cover up possible Israeli war crimes.

A similar position was expressed by the Ministry of General Affairs.

However, the NRC daily notes that its team of journalists spent some time talking to several officials and thus observed “a lot of outsiders’ displeasure at the Dutch refusal to call for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.”

Also, the same publication writes, the officials fear for their jobs, so they sent the letter anonymously.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands expressed his interest in the leadership of NATO

A Dutch court ruled in December that the Netherlands “is not obliged to suspend” the supply of spare parts for F-35 jets to Israel following a complaint by an NGO that accused the Dutch state of allowing military exports to Israel. for “complicity in violating the laws of war” in the Gaza Strip.

Dutch NGOs Oxfam Novib, PAX and The Rights Forum, with the support of other groups and more than a thousand Dutch people in a crowdfunding campaign, are forming an appeal against the decision on Monday.

Mark Rutte, who announced his exit from domestic politics after the formation of the future government following the results of November’s parliamentary meetings, in which the Freedom Party led by Geert Wilders won, has made it clear that he is interested in the post of NATO secretary general.

Jens Stoltenberg will complete his mandate in October 2024, after it has already been extended four times in the context of the war in Ukraine.