Prime Minister Netanyahu was openly insulted during a meeting with members of the Dutch Foreign Affairs Committee when MP Tunahan Kuzo, of Turkish extraction, refused to shake his extended hand before the cameras.
Kuzo later wrote on his Facebook account that his actions were in protest to Operation Protective Edge in 2014: “At a time when the streets of Gaza are streaming with blood from the veins of children from 2014, it is not appropriate to shake his hand, but to reference the liberation of Palestine.” Netanyahu responded to the insult with diplomatic aplomb. He recorded a video responding to the incident from his plane after he departed from the Netherlands. “We saw again another clear example of who wants peace and who doesn’t want peace. I will continue to represent Israel’s position with pride everywhere in the world and I will strengthen its international standing. As Menachem Begin said, those who who choose to turn up their nose, let them have crooked noses.”
Michael van der Galien, editor-in-chief of the popular Dutch news and opinion website De Dagelijkse Standard, accused Kuzu of behavior that diverges from the norms of discourse because Netanyahu is Jewish.
Van der Galien wrote, “Even if you disagree with Netanyahu’s policies, as a parliamentarian you are obliged to treat him respectfully on his visit to the Netherlands. But Kuzu apparently can’t do that because just imagine what will happen if you are seen shaking the hand of a Jewish leader of the only Jewish state? An Islamist like Kuzu can’t even bear the thought.”
Kuzu did shake hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, van der Gailen wrote, despite his persecution of dissidents. “Kuzu has unmasked himself. He is no more than an Islamist inciter of hate,” he added.
