Netherlands highest court orders government to reevaluate license to export F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel

The highest court in the Netherlands on Friday ordered the Dutch government to reevaluate its currently suspended license for exporting parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, in response to concerns they could be used in breaches of international law, AP reports.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said an appeals court in The Hague overstepped its authority when it banned the transfer of F-35 parts to Israel in February 2024, citing concerns they could be used in breaches of international law. The ruling led the government to suspend the exports.

The court’s vice-president, Martijn Polak, said the government now has six weeks to reevaluate the license.

The ruling comes as Israel continues its devastating offensive against Hamas in Gaza and at a time of political flux in the Netherlands, with national elections scheduled for October 29 and the current government in caretaker mode.

The case was originally brought in late 2023 by three Dutch rights groups who argued that transferring the F-35 parts makes the Netherlands complicit in possible war crimes being committed by Israel in its war with Hamas. Israel denies committing war crimes in its campaign in Gaza.

The district court in The Hague initially rejected the ban, but in February 2024 an appeals panel ordered the Dutch government to halt shipments of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, citing a clear risk of violations of international law.

The government appealed to the Supreme Court, saying that foreign policy was a matter for the government, not courts.

The Netherlands is home to one of three regional warehouses for U.S.-owned F-35 parts.

Dutch government lawyers argue that a ban on transfers from the Netherlands would effectively be meaningless as the United States would deliver the parts anyway.