Next week’s visit to Israel and the Middle East by foreign affairs minister Caspar Veldkamp has been cancelled in the wake of the ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Veldkamp told parliament on Thursday the Netherlands would arrest Netanyahu if he set foot on Dutch soil, in line with the ICC’s position.

The Netherlands will also not engage in any “non-essential” contacts with Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader MohammedDeif, Veldkamp said. The ICC issued arrest warrants for all three earlier on Thursday.

News of the warrants and the Dutch decision provoked an angry reaction from Israel and led to the cancellation of the visit.

Foreign “minister Sa’ar expressed his disappointment, in the name of the government of Israel and the people of Israel, over his [Veldkamp] announcement in the Dutch parliament following the decision of the International Criminal Court in the Hague,” the Times of Israel reported.

Veldkamp and Sa’ar had a discussion and “it was agreed that the visit by the Dutch foreign minister to Israel that had been planned for next Monday — would not take place,” the statement from Sa’ar’s office said.

Veldkamp himself had reacted furiously when the timing of his trip was made public in parliament on Thursday, saying it compromised his security and said later that the trip was being postponed “given the current situation”, without going into details.

He also criticised the decision by far right leader Geert Wilders to press ahead with his visit, a few details of which were published by the NRC last week.

“It is of course up to MPs to decide where to visit,” he said. “But if Wilders is visiting settlements and settlers’ leaders, then that is at odds with the coalition agreement,” Veldkamp said.

The issue, he said, would be raised in Friday’s cabinet meeting.

Two state solution

The PVV believes that the true Palestine is Jordan while the coalition is committed to a two-state solution to the Israel Gaza situation.

Wilders, meanwhile, described the ICC arrest warrant as “the world gone mad”.

“Instead of receiving international understanding and support, you are confronted with an arrest warrant. The world has gone mad. I am proud to meet my friend Netanyahu soon in Israel,” he said on social media.