Did Israel-Palestine protests push Geert Wilders’s election victory?

Geert Wilders’s victory is another slap-in-the-face moment for the European Union. The complexities of Dutch democracy may mean that he struggles to form a strong government. But his victory, which seemed impossible just a few weeks ago, reminds us that, whether we like it or not, anti-immigration politics is the most potent force in 21st century western democracies. It also raises interesting questions about how the Israel-Palestine war may be influencing elections far outside the Holy Land.

There are of course many factors behind Wilders’s latest ascent — his ‘Nexit’ position against the European Union, his Freedom alliance with Dutch farmers against the eco-left, and his broader objections to the Green agenda all contributed.

But on October 7, the day Hamas struck, his VVD party was polling at 12 per cent. Throughout the month of October, that support more than doubled.

What changed? Well vast pro-Palestine protests took place in Holland. On October 14, 20,000 people marched in Amsterdam.