Dutch Populist Wilders Awarded by Israel’s Knesset, Warns ‘If Israel Falls, the West Will Be Next’

Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders was presented with an award by the legislature of Israel during his solidarity-showing visit over its fight against radical Islam.

Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana awarded the the Jabotinsky Prize for Liberty to Dutch MP Geert Wilders this week as the Party for Freedom (PVV) leader toured Israel, where he held  diplomatic meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and members of the Israeli cabinet.

“This award is a fitting tribute to a man who, for so long, embodied Jabotinsky’s courage and conviction. He has confronted the lies propagated by institutions like the ICC [International Criminal Court], which distort justice and reward terror. In America, we are seeing President Trump assemble a dream team. Geert brings that same optimism to Europe, where it is needed even more,” Speaker Ohana said of the main power behind the government of The Netherlands.

Wilders, a leading critic of radical Islam, has long been a staunch supporter of the Jewish state, having volunteered for a year in the West Bank during his youth. During his diplomatic mission to the country this week, Wilders continued to advocate for Israel’s rightful control of the West Bank, describing the Jordan Valley settlements in Judea and Samaria as Israel’s “bulletproof vest” without which it would cease to exist as a country.

Upon receiving the award from the Knesset, Wilders said: “This is not the time to be silent, but to stand up and support Israel. After the October 7, 2023 massacre, where 1,200 innocent Jewish lives were lost, the world was shocked, but as so often, unfortunately, only for a short time, after which too many countries, politicians and institutions like the UN and the ICC started bashing Israel for rightfully defending itself and its people against an existential threat.”

Wilders said that his mission to Israel was intended to show his “full and never-ending support” against the “evil powers” of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The PVV leader lamented that alongside the hatred of Jews by radical Islamists, the anti-Israel sentiment is being driven by the “self-hatred of woke Westerners who no longer believe in fighting for the truth.”

The Dutch populist reiterated his warning that should Israel fall in its battle, the “West will be next” and therefore wished to demonstrate by his journey to Israel that there are still “political leaders in Europe that are not afraid to come here and say out loud, here and in Europe, very clear, that we will never, ever abandon you and we’ll be always at your side.”

In October, writing exclusively for Breitbart London, Mr Wilders argued that European patriots should stand by Israel, hailing the country as a model for Western nations to follow to preserve their own national identities.

“What we need today is Zionism for the nations of Europe. The Europeans should follow the example of the Jewish people and safeguard the sovereignty of their nation-states,” the populist leader wrote.

Wilders said that while globalist elites in Europe have sought to dismantle their own nation states in favour of a “supranational institution” in the EU, “the Jewish nation proudly reasserted itself as a sovereign nation-state and vigourously defended its borders.”

This, Wilders argued, was the principal reason why the Western left despises the state of Israel, as it serves as a “beacon for nations striving to maintain their national identity.”

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