The Dutch Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday it had ceased funding an NGO which Israel revealed was linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.
The organization, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), was one of six which the Israeli government backlisted for their ties to the PFLP last year.
The Dutch government had donated €21.5 million to the organization, but began withholding further funding in 2020 after two of the organization's members were convicted of the murder of Israeli teenager Rina Shnerb.
In a letter to the Dutch Parliament Wednesday, Development Cooperation Minister Tom de Bruijn and Foreign Affairs Minister Ben Knapen revealed that 34 of the organizations members have been discovered to have also been active in the PFLP.
"The large number of board members of UAWC with a dual mandate is particularly worrying," the ministers wrote.
The Israeli government welcomed the Dutch government's decision.
"The Dutch Foreign Ministry's announcement of the cessation of funding to the agriculture committees is an important and correct announcement," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in response. The Union of Agricultural Work Committees is in fact an organic part of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization, as well as the five other organizations that Israel has declared terrorist organizations."
"Israel will continue the dialogue with the Netherlands and other countries regarding these organizations whose assistance constitutes a violation of Israeli law. Israel welcomes the Dutch Foreign Ministry's announcement that it will continue to support projects that help Palestinian civil society, through legitimate aid organizations, an important goal that Israel also shares," the Foreign Ministry added.