In Amsterdam, Rob Jetten speaks about security at Jewish sites and the mezuzah on his door

At Amsterdam’s Portuguese Synagogue on 9 November 2026, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten recalled that his government had set aside extra money to protect Jewish community buildings and institutions. Addressing the national commemoration of Kristallnacht, he also explained why he had put a mezuzah on his own doorpost. The ceremony was scheduled for 5.30pm local time. ¹²⁴⁵

A book for the prime minister

A few weeks before the ceremony, a young man had given Jetten a book about his great-grandmother, who had survived the camps. In the inscription, he wrote that he owed his life to her determination. He also expressed a hope for his daughter: that she would have a future in the Netherlands. Jetten said he refused to accept the idea that the young man’s daughter might one day have no future in her own country. ¹²

The prime minister then described a gift he had received on another occasion: a Delft blue mezuzah, a small case containing a parchment scroll. He had fixed it beside his front door to show, he said, that a family in the Netherlands should be able to live openly as Jews. ¹²

The debate over Gaza reaches the ceremony

Chanan Hertzberger, chair of the Centraal Joods Overleg, the Jewish organisation that holds the commemoration, spoke about the Rode Lijn demonstration in Amsterdam on 8 November. Among other demands, the organisers had called on the Netherlands to end military cooperation with Israel. Hertzberger condemned the way Dutch Jews are made to answer for events in Gaza, even on their own streets or at their children’s schools. ²³⁴⁶

Jetten recalled the days after the pogrom of 9–10 November 1938, when thousands of German Jews sought refuge in the Netherlands. For most, he said, that hope went unfulfilled. Our feature on Jewish refugees seeking admission to the United States before the Holocaust looks at the question of asylum across the Atlantic in the same period. ¹²

Sources

1. Gouvernement néerlandais, discours de Rob Jetten à la commémoration nationale, Amsterdam, 9 novembre 2026, https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/2026/11/09/toespraak-van-minister-president-rob-jetten-tijdens-de-nationale-kristallnachtherdenking-amsterdam
2. NOS, « Politieke boodschap bij Kristallnachtherdenking: Rode Lijn-protest is anti-Israël », 9 novembre 2026, https://nos.nl/artikel/2638768-politieke-boodschap-bij-kristallnachtherdenking-rode-lijn-protest-is-anti-israel
3. Centraal Joods Overleg, discours de Chanan Hertzberger à la commémoration nationale, 9 novembre 2026, https://www.cjo.nl/nieuws/cjo-voorzitter-hertzberger-bij-kristallnachtherdenking-hoe-snel-de-leugen-zich-als-feit-in-onze-samenleving-heeft-genesteld/
4. Centraal Joods Overleg, programme de la commémoration nationale, 9 novembre 2026 (date de la cérémonie), https://www.nationalekristallnachtherdenking.nl/
5. Joods Cultureel Kwartier, « Nationale Kristallnachtherdenking », 9 novembre 2026 (date de la cérémonie), https://jck.nl/agenda/nationale-kristallnachtherdenking-26
6. Oxfam Novib, « De Rode Lijn 8 november: alle praktische info », 4 novembre 2026, https://www.oxfamnovib.nl/actueel/blogs/220177-de-rode-lijn-8-november-alle-praktische-info

The story in 30 seconds

Read the main facts at a glance and share the link.

1. Rob Jetten spoke at Amsterdam’s Portuguese Synagogue on 9 November to commemorate the pogrom of November 1938.
2. On 9 November, the Dutch prime minister said his government had set aside extra funding to protect Jewish institutions.
3. At the ceremony on 9 November, Chanan Hertzberger condemned the practice of holding Dutch Jews responsible for the war in Gaza.

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