-DDS exclusive- Interview Thierry Baudet on election campaign and Israel conflict

Yesterday, DDS attended a well-attended election event in Rotterdam. More than 500 people attended. Of course, we also had time to speak with Thierry Baudet about the election and Israel.

Thierry, how's it going?

Very good. Our campaign is super high energy. We are going all over the country. People's enthusiasm is very high. And what I see, nuweer, what I also saw in 2019, is that we attract a very broad group of people. So in corona time, of course, we also did very well. And that was also very necessary and very important. But then it was quite oneissue. And now you see, it's questions about youth care, it's questions about international relations, about economics, about climate, about housing. You see really, we are now again a very broad social movement that is at the heart of the political business. And we have not forgotten the coronadings.We are still fighting for that as well. But those other issues are also there again.And that's why I think we can also score tremendously well now. That we can really start to have a breakout moment.

Many things have happened in the past two days. Like Maurice de Hond's new poll. How do you look at this?

It would be nice if Geert (Wilders ed.) becomes the biggest. But I don't believe in strategic voting. Because ultimately after the election you get coalition negotiations. And after that you also just get four years that in the Lower House. Every individual MP counts. With his own voice, with his own ideas. So I would always vote for the party that you yourself have the most affinity with. What you yourself believe in the most. Because that's the only way that story is going to be heard in the House of Representatives.

Why DDS readers should definitely not vote strategically?

Above all, don't vote strategically. The most unstrategic thing you can do is to vote strategically. Because you are already giving away your vote before negotiations have even begun. Strategic voting can be compared to already lowering your demands to the minimum level before you begin salary negotiations. No, you must first vote what you believe in. And those negotiations that start after the election. With whoever becomes the largest with that you have not yet formed a government. And you haven't delivered a prime minister. So we very much want to work together. Also with Geert, but also with other parties. But it is important that we first enter the House of Representatives with as many votes as possible.

Today Pieter Omtzigt announced that he wants to become prime minister after all. But with whom would FVD like to form a cabinet?

Actually, I just want to talk to everybody. And of course, I have less in common with D66 than with the SGP, so to speak. But I think it's very bad for democracy, very undemocratic to start playing that game even before the elections. I want to be with you, not with you. We are here to realize our election program. We want to propagate that as widely as possible. And if you start forging coalitions even before the elections, you are actually undermining that electoral process.

At the same time as this election event, a large demonstration is taking place in Rotterdam to show support for the Palestinians. How do you view this?

Well, the first thing I think when I look at it is what does this have to do with the Netherlands? It's a very complex conflict. Goes back thousands of years of history. I stand up for the Netherlands. What I don't want is for the Netherlands to get involved in an international war. Or in a civil war. I want peace and the best for the Netherlands. The second thing I think is of course what happened on October 7 is horrible. And I understand very well that Jews feel incredibly unsafe in Israel and feel very attacked there again. But I don't think the reaction, that's the third thing I think, from Israel right now is smart from their interest. Because with every innocent child they kill another few Hamas fighters are born. But also morally, I just don't think it's justified. I think what they're doing is really immoral. Because knocking off 10,000 children for a moment, that, that, you don't do that. So my main thing is non-intervention. What do we have to do with it? It's not our war, not our thing. If I could advise Israel, which I did once, I would say, guys, I would try a little bit more to take a calmer course anyway, because there will never be peace this way.

What would you have done if you had been in the shoes of Benjamin Netanyahu?

Then I would have taken a very different approach. Then I would have tried to make Israel a moral winner. A bit like Nelson Mandela claimed the moral high ground after apartheid. All the Netherlands, all the world loved Nelson Mandela. Or Gandhi you know? People like that. And we just know from history, look Versailles, the Treaty of Versailles, very well known. After World War I, Germany had been defeated. The Treaty of Versailles was a total humiliation for Germany. And finally, twenty years later, you have a Second World War. So you don't solve anything. It's an endless cycle of violence. And I think we all want to break that. Finally, I do see the Palestinians as one of the most unfortunate peoples on earth. They are really incredibly unlucky in life. Because the Jews just want to have that land (The Protectorate of Palestine ed.). That's very sad. They have no rights.

How do you view the fact that this Middle East conflict is now also being played out in our streets with cries such as ''From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!"?

I understand that sentiment. But of course that's part of that, of that violence.... .of the polarization. So one says of, um, boom, um, Jordan Peterson says, um, give them hell. You know? And, and the other side says, um, from the river to the sea. We just want to unbundle that. Eventually there has to be peace. Unless one is going to kill the other all over. And I don't think anybody is in favor of that. So something has to happen that you get out of that cycle of violence. I don't hate Jews. No, I'm not an anti-Semite. I don't hate Muslims either. I'm not a racist. I love children. I love families. I love religions and religious traditions. I have a lot of respect and appreciation for Islam. Also for Judaism. I understand the story of Israel. And I understand its history. But I also have a lot of empathy for those Palestinians. I don't understand why it's so hard to take a kind of helicopter perspective on that. And I understand why the calls for peace are so muted. One group calls me a gore anti-Semite. The other group calls me a vile racist. We are the Netherlands and we stand up for all people and against injustice on all sides.

That must hurt to be called an anti-Semite while married to a Jewish woman and since your son is also Jewish.

Not really. Davide's family lives in Israel and they also live in this conflict. But they don't support Israel's policies either. You shouldn't think that the entire Israeli population is behind Netanyahu's policy, Israelis of course are also as diverse as the Dutch are wise. But the policies of the Israeli state are just really very biased. With the settlement policy, with the collective punishment of the Gaza population. So I don't think it's anti-Semitic to question that.

What is FVD going to do in the final days before the election?

Tomorrow (today ed.) we go to Groningen and Zwolle. Tuesday we go to the results of the school elections which we hope to win. In the evening the NOS Final Debate. And then we go live in the evening. Wednesday we'll be going around the Netherlands all day with a caravan to motivate everyone to vote. And then I'll probably be home exhausted at 21:00.

So no results night for FVD?

Maybe we will still do that. But for reasons of security and cost, we'd rather spend our money on the campaign. I hope we just get 12 seats. That's what I'm going for!