Achahbar told her colleagues earlier Friday that she was quitting over alleged racist comments made by other ministers during a Cabinet meeting Monday to discuss violence in Amsterdam involving locals and Israeli football fans last week, according to Dutch broadcaster NOS. She has yet to release a public statement.
The Netherlands’ government since July has been comprised of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) and the NSC, following the PVV’s win at last November’s elections.
Led by Prime Minister Dick Schoof, they have formed the most right-wing government in Dutch history.
But the uneasy coalition was beset by infighting over how to respond to the violence in Amsterdam, with anti-immigrant PVV leader Geert Wilders — who is not part of the government — repeatedly venting his fury at the Cabinet and demanding harsh measures against migrants, reportedly Arabs and Muslims, who carried out violence against Israelis. During a day of chaos, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had torn down Palestinian flags in Amsterdam city center and chanted anti-Arab slogans.
While PVV, VVD and BBB all backed a plan to strip the perpetrators of antisemitic violence of their Dutch citizenship, the more moderate NSC have declined to say whether it supported such a measure.