Spectre of Mossad connection looms as Geert Wilders’ cabinet takes oath

When the Dutch cabinet of far-right politician Geert Wilders takes oath on July 2 (Tuesday), there will be a notable absence in the names of ministers who take important posts in the new government.

The intelligence agency responsible for national security pulled the rug from under the feet of Gidi Markuszower weeks before he was supposed to become deputy prime minister and migration minister.

The National Security Service, known as AIVD, told Wilders, chairman of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) that leads the next coalition government, that Markuszower was “passing sensitive information” to a foreign power.

While the foreign power hasn’t been named, multiple sources have pointed fingers at Israel’s Mossad.

Wilders withdrew Markuszower's name and instead nominated Marjolein Faber as a candidate for asylum and migration minister.

The official reason cited for his removal from the candidacy is that he did not pass the security screening by the Dutch intelligence service. However, Markuszower will continue to serve as a member of the House of Representatives.

For years, Israeli-born Markuszower has dodged controversies that connect him to Israeli authorities. He grew up in the Netherlands, where he began his political career as a Dutch spokesperson for the Likud Party of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In 2010, Markuszower had to withdraw from a parliamentary race after the Dutch intelligence agency flagged him as a national security threat. The Dutch authorities had found out that he maintained links to a foreign intelligence agency, presumably Mossad.

He was also detained by the Dutch security forces in 2008 for “illegally carrying a firearm” while doing a security job at an event marking Israel’s 60th anniversary. The prosecution dropped the charges later on.

All these controversies seemed to fizzle out in subsequent years, however, as he won a Senate seat in 2015, only to give it up after winning the election for the lower house of parliament.

Markuszower was set to become one of the three deputy premiers in Wilders’ cabinet. He was also supposed to take the ministry of immigration affairs had he not failed the security screening by the Dutch intelligence agency.

A staunch opposition to Muslim immigration into the Netherlands is a defining feature of Markuszower’s politics. “People are afraid to wear a skullcap on the street for fear of attack… and this is the result of violence by Muslim immigrants,” he said a few years back.

Spy galore

Markuszower’s case is not one of a kind. Famous names like Jonathan Pollard, Eli Cohen, Ben-Ami Kadish, Lawrence Franklin and Dr Robert Soblen share a connection to espionage activities involving the state of Israel.

For example, Pollard worked as a former US Navy intelligence analyst when he was arrested in 1985 for passing classified information to Israel. He served three decades in prison. He was received in Israel as a “national hero” when he was released by US authorities on parole in 2015.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry recently summoned the Israeli ambassador to seek his explanation over the allegation that Israeli spy services carried out a secret surveillance and espionage campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In early June, Dutch lawmakers called for a probe into allegations of espionage and intimidation by Israel to obstruct ICC investigations into Israeli officials. The efforts are reportedly aimed at disrupting investigations into war crimes committed in Palestinian territories, according to Anadolu Agency.

Unlikely union

Jews and the far-right make for unlikely bedfellows. After all, far-right ideologues have historically been at the forefront of the anti-Semitic movements around the world.

Yet an increasing number of prominent Jewish politicians in Europe are putting their weight behind far-right parties, whose electoral resurgence is coinciding with a rise in anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments across the continent.

The electoral success of the far-right PVV in the November polls was spearheaded by Wilders who’s been described as an “anti-Islam, pro-Israel” politician. PVV won 37 seats with 23.5 percent of the votes in the early general elections. His attempts at cobbling together a coalition to form the government faced multiple setbacks.

Wilders met Israeli President Isaac Herzog and pledged his full support to Israel in the ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed almost 38,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in the last eight months.

Faber, who’s now been nominated by Wilders as the minister for asylum and migration, has also faced scrutiny for anti-Muslim views. A far-right politician holding a “racially charged” stance on Muslim immigration, she called for the “abolition of Islam” as a member of the Senate.