This is a rare step taken by the United States against its closest ally in the Middle East. After the visa restrictions against extremist Israeli settlers, announced last December, the Americans have this time unveiled the first financial sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
“The situation in the West Bank, particularly high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and destruction of property, has reached intolerable levels and poses a serious threat to peace, security and stability of the West Bank, Gaza, Israel and the Middle East region,” Joe Biden wrote in a presidential decree.
“These actions compromise the objectives of the foreign policy of the United States, including that of a two-state solution” Israeli and Palestinian, and as such represent “a threat to the national security of the United States”, adds the American president in this text granting him the authority to take sanctions.
Four settlers targeted
The new American sanctions initially target four Israelis, who will be prohibited from staying in the United States and their possible assets frozen, according to a press release from the State Department.
Among them is David Chai Chasdai, accused of instigating a riot in the Palestinian town of Huwara, south of Nablus, leading to the death of a Palestinian civilian. Or Yinon Levi, accused of leading a group of settlers around the Meitarim outpost, having attacked Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, burning their fields and destroying their property. As stated Associated Press (AP), The sanctions are intended to prevent these four individuals from using the US financial system and to prevent US citizens from dealing with them.
Additionally, U.S. officials are weighing whether to punish others involved in attacks on Israeli settlers that have intensified during Israel’s war with Hamas.
Israel’s first ally, the United States has for months condemned the violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, urging the Israeli authorities to stop it and bring the perpetrators to justice. “Israel must do more to end the violence against civilians in the West Bank and hold those responsible accountable,” reiterated the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, who himself must visit once again the region in the coming days.
“No room for exceptional measures”
In response, Israel considered that there was “no room for exceptional measures” against Israeli settlers, according to a statement from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. “The absolute majority of settlers in Judea and Samaria (Editor’s note: West Bank) are law-abiding citizens, many of whom are currently fighting in defense of Israel. Israel takes action against all those who violate the law everywhere,” he said in a statement. communicated the Prime Minister’s Office.
The announcement of the sanctions comes the day Joe Biden visits Michigan, an electorally crucial northern US state, which is also the epicenter of anger among Americans of Arab origin against pro-politics. -Israeli from the Democratic president.
The Israeli government has staunch defenders of settlement, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Force party. The West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel, has been shaken by renewed violence since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Authority, at least 364 Palestinians have been killed since then by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank. More than 2.9 million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank, separated from the Gaza Strip by Israeli territory. Around 490,000 Israelis also live there, in settlements deemed illegal under international law.