Travelers landing at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport from Tel Aviv are reporting a new routine at the border: Dutch customs officers pulling aside passengers arriving from Israel and screening their luggage for goods produced in Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Passengers on El Al arrivals described being waved out of the “nothing to declare” line and sending every bag through X-ray machines, with officers asking about wine, dates, olives, and souvenirs.
The searches enforce a Dutch trade measure that took effect September 22 banning the import, purchase, and sale of any goods made wholly or partially in Israeli settlements. The ban covers souvenirs, gifts, and items in personal luggage, with no exception for products bought before that date. A product made mostly in Tel Aviv is still banned if even one ingredient originates in a settlement, and the same rules apply to online orders shipped to the Netherlands. Removed or altered origin labels bring additional penalties.
The penalties are not theoretical. Intentionally violating or circumventing the ban carries up to six years in prison or a significant fine, and even unintentional violations can bring up to a year. Travelers found with covered goods are given the chance to surrender them to customs; anything seized comes with an official report, and prosecutors decide whether to press charges.
Israel is pushing back. The Foreign Ministry warned Israelis planning travel to the Netherlands to expect “long and invasive baggage checks,” and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar ordered Dutch diplomats based in Ramallah to return their Israeli-issued diplomatic documentation within seven days.
For kosher travelers, Amsterdam has long been one of the main gateways between North America and Israel. KLM routes many US-Tel Aviv connections through Schiphol and El Al flies the route nonstop, so this reaches far beyond vacations in Holland. Popular kosher wineries, including the Golan Heights Winery in Katzrin and Psagot in the Binyamin region, sit in the covered areas, along with many Jordan Valley date growers.
Amsterdam is also a destination in its own right for Jewish travelers. In the old Jewish neighborhood, the Jewish Cultural Quarter spans four centuries of history: the 17th-century Portuguese Synagogue still holds services, and the Jewish Museum tells the story of Jewish life in the Netherlands. The National Holocaust Museum and Hollandsche Schouwburg trace the persecution and deportation of Dutch Jews, while the Anne Frank House preserves the building where Anne and her family hid during World War II.
Anyone flying to or through the Netherlands from Israel should check labels before packing, keep packaging or receipts showing where products were made, and confirm purchases against the EU’s postcode list of covered towns. Travelers unsure about an item should use the red “Goods to Declare” channel on arrival and hand it over voluntarily.
Better yet, avoid flying through The Netherlands entirely.
First reported by NieuwRechts in the Netherlands, and in English by DansDeals.
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