Israel’s president Yitzhak Herzog will be at the opening of the National Holocaust museum in Amsterdam this weekend, alongside king Willem-Alexander, who will perform the opening ceremony on Sunday, the organisation has confirmed. 

Herzog’s visit, part of a two-day trip to the Netherlands, had been kept secret for security reasons but leaked out via an Israeli news site Ynet this week. 

“Herzog first of all represents the homeland of the many Dutch Holocaust survivors who emigrated to Israel after World War II to build a new future,” the museum said in a statement. “He also represents fellow Israeli institutions at the National Holocaust Museum, with whom knowledge is shared and who made documents, photos and video material available.”

The museum went on to say it is “bitter” that the museum is being opened while the war in Israel and Gaza is ongoing. “However, we expect a dignified ceremony that will do justice to the significant national and international importance of our museum,” the statement said.

Prime minister Mark Rutte, Austrian chancellor Alexander Van der Bellen and the chairwoman of the German Bundesrat, or federal council, Manuela Schwesig will also attend the ceremony. Both Austria and Germany have paid towards the cost of the museum. 

According to Ynet, Herzog will speak during the opening ceremony and will also hold talks with Rutte, a meeting which will include relatives of the families of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 last year.

Palestinian rights group The Rights Forum has described Herzog’s attendance and meeting with the king as a “slap in the face for Palestinians who are watching helplessly as Israel murders their loved ones and destroys their country”.