On Friday, 3 October 2025, the Supreme Court ordered the State (the Minister of Foreign Affairs) to assess the export of F-35 parts destined for Israel on the basis of the mandatory requirements of the EU Common Position (EUCS) and the Arms Trade Treaty.
In a judgment of 12 February 2024, the Court of Appeal The Hague had ordered the State to cease all (actual) export and transit of F-35 parts with final destination Israel. In the opinion of the Court, there was a clear risk that Israel would commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip with the F-35 fighter jets.
The State appealed in cassation against this judgment. The Supreme Court partially ruled in favour of the State, but nonetheless granted the claim of Oxfam Novib et al. by ordering the Minister to carry out a reassessment of the export licence for F-35 components (AV009) within six weeks. The Minister must now assess whether, in the light of all the new information, the conditions for one of the mandatory grounds for refusal from the EUGS are met, and if this is the case no export to Israel is allowed.
As a result of this ruling, the export of F-35 parts to Israel, which has been suspended since February 2024, can still not take place and that the Minister must now properly assess whether the export should continue to be stopped. This assessment is in fact the same as the assessment made by the Court of Appeal. At that time, the Court already concluded that there was a clear risk of serious violations of international humanitarian law by Israel and therefore that exports with final destination Israel had to stop.
The judgment is also important because it establishes that, contrary to what the State had argued, citizens can claim in civil courts that the State complies with its own obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty and EUGS. It is also confirmed that organisations such as Oxfam Novib et al. can invoke norms that are intended to protect civilians against armed conflict.
The organisations Oxfam Novib, PAX and The Rights Forum are represented by lawyers Liesbeth Zegveld and Thomas van der Sommen of Prakken d'Oliveira Human Rights Lawyers, and in cassation by cassation lawyers Philip Fruytier and Hugo Boom of the BarentsKrans firm.