The Netherlands’ highest court is the final arbiter in a landmark case pitting the government’s control over foreign policy against judicial orders to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel. The Supreme Court began hearing the government’s appeal on Friday against a lower court’s ban, a decision that could set a significant precedent for the role of courts in overseeing matters of international law and national security.
The legal battle was initiated in late 2023 by a coalition of three Dutch human rights organizations. They argued that by supplying the American-owned F-35 components, stored in a regional warehouse in the Netherlands, the Dutch state was becoming an accomplice to potential war crimes being committed by Israel in its military campaign in Gaza. This accusation lies at the heart of the judicial proceedings.
Initially, a district court in The Hague sided with the government, rejecting the call for a ban. However, the case took a dramatic turn in February 2024 when an appeals panel overturned the decision. The appellate judges ordered an immediate stop to the shipments, citing a “clear risk” that the fighter jets were being used in ways that violate international humanitarian law.
In response, the government escalated the matter to the Supreme Court. Its lawyers contend that decisions on foreign policy and military exports are the exclusive domain of the executive branch, not the judiciary. They further argue that any Dutch ban would be symbolic at best, as the United States could easily reroute the parts to Israel from other locations.
The backdrop to this legal showdown is the devastating conflict that began on October 7, 2023. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has resulted in over 66,200 Palestinian deaths, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. In a sign of the case’s legal weight, a senior legal advisor to the Supreme Court issued a non-binding opinion last November recommending that the government’s appeal be dismissed.