Netanyahu’s support for settler violence after the US sanctions.
Israel’s prime minister called Israeli settlers who are committing violence against Palestinians “law-abiding citizens” and said US sanctions against them were “unnecessary”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Israeli settlers who are committing violence against Palestinians “law-abiding citizens” and said US sanctions against them were “unnecessary”.
He said that Israel would take action against those who break the law, so resorting to “extraordinary measures” is unnecessary.
US President Joe Biden signed a new executive order yesterday (Thursday) that provides the basis for imposing new sanctions against Israeli settlers for violent actions in the West Bank.
The executive order includes asset freezes and travel bans against activities that “undermine the peace” in the West Bank.
A few hours later, the US State Department announced that Washington had sanctioned 4 people who had committed “terrorism, violence and damage to civilian property in the West Bank”.
At the same time, an American official told Reuters news agency that these sanctions target Israelis and Palestinians and do not apply to American citizens.
Observers will interpret this action as part of the White House’s policies to reduce the pressure of public opinion in the United States and the world in the midst of intensifying criticism of the Biden administration for its comprehensive support for Israel in the Gaza war with more than 27,000 dead and tens of thousands injured.
Since the Israeli operation in Gaza began on October 7, the attacks of settler groups against Palestinians have also intensified. The United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs says that since then, nearly 500 attacks have been carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet claims that it has taken effective measures to deal with this issue in the past two months, and these measures have reduced the number of violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
On the other hand, some observers have rejected this Israeli claim and believe that the settlers’ attacks were carried out with the tacit approval of Netanyahu’s right-wing cabinet. In addition, statistics indicate that the Israeli army has increased its attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank after the start of the Gaza war, and has killed more than 120 Palestinians so far.
The Axios website claims that Joe Biden has conveyed his concerns about settler violence to Netanyahu’s cabinet several times.