Activists in another country have managed to strike a symbolic blow against Israel over its supposed "genocide" of Gazan civilians during the ongoing war against Hamas. This time the move was made by three supposed human rights groups in the Netherlands. The country houses some of our stockpiles of parts and supplies for the F-35 Lightning and they periodically ship them to Israel, which has a fleet of dozens of the multi-role warplanes with more on back-order. But the activists went to court demanding that the shipments be stopped to avoid opening the Netherlands up to charges of potential war crimes. Today, the Hague Court of Appeals ordered the exports to be halted within seven days. (Associated Press)

Judges in the Netherlands on Monday ordered the Dutch government to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, citing a clear risk of violations of international law.

A trio of human rights organizations brought a civil suit against the Netherlands in December, arguing that authorities needed to reevaluate the export license in light of Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip. They argued that delivery of parts for the aircraft makes the Netherlands complicit in possible war crimes being committed by Israel in its war with Hamas.

A lower court sided with the government in January, allowing the government to continue sending U.S.-owned parts stored at a warehouse in the town of Woensdrecht to Israel.

The reason I referred to this court decision as "a symbolic blow" is that it's almost entirely meaningless. The Dutch government doesn't own those fighter jet parts. They store them for us as a convenient shipping point in the region. We can simply ship the same parts to Israel from elsewhere. And while we probably don't need to start a spitting contest with another ally at this point, we could just as easily stop shipping them to the Dutch.

But this decision is also yet another sign of how anti-Israeli propaganda is spreading among our supposed allies in Europe. All of the pro-Hamas propaganda about the supposed "genocide" taking place in Gaza is gaining traction and groups are finding small ways to make their displeasure known while not trying to draw lines in the sand against the United States. This is why we need an American president who will stand strongly beside Isreal, who is otherwise encircled by potentially warlike enemies.

Still, the prompt delivery of these parts is critical to Israel's war effort. The F-35 Lightning is our top of the line warfighting aircraft and it gives Israel a needed edge in combat. (Well... it's the top of the line in terms of what we share with our allies. I don't think we're sharing any of whatever we've reverse engineered from the aliens yet.) If we are seen by our adversaries in the region as backing down and not fully supporting Israel's military needs during this conflict, others might start getting ideas that should be avoided.

As with the rest of the supposed "aid" we provide to Israel, this isn't any sort of charity. Their last order for 25 more of the Lightning fighters is setting them back billions of dollars. Those orders keep American workers employed and both sides benefit. The need is just particularly critical at the moment because of the atrocities committed by Hamas. 

It's worth noting that we sell a lot more than just jets to the IDF. We've been shipping them laser-guided missiles, 155mm shells, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and more. Israel has admirable arms manufacturing capabilities of their own, but they can't produce the wide range of the most modern, effective equipment that they can purchase from us. But they are our ally. We can't afford to lose sight of that. They were attacked and are now at war. If we can't be a friend in need, we're not much of a friend at all. (I'm looking at you, Joe Biden.)