Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal has accused ICCO, a Netherlands-based interchurch development organization, for undermining the Dutch government’s policy on Israel.
Rosenthal met with officials of the organization on Jan. 13, following ICCO’s financing of the Electronic Intifada website, which has called for a boycott of Israel, according to a news release from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The minister said the move contradicts the government’s policy on Israel and told ICCO to remedy the situation or risk losing funding. ICCO receives approximately euro75 million (USD100 million) from the Dutch government every year, the ministry noted.
“ICCO claims that its support for the website is paid from private donations, but the minister dismissed this argument as disingenuous,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, adding that Rosenthal will be keeping a close eye on ICCO and other Dutch development organizations.
As reported by Devex, another Dutch non-governmental organization has suffered a 42 percent decrease in government subsidy in the last two months supposedly due to its engagement in the Palestinian territories.
>> Dutch Government Cuts Subsidy for NGO Helping Palestinians
