Ultra-nationalist Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says US sanctions targeting a handful of settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories are against “the state of Israel” and an act of “injustice”.
“Everyone should understand – these sanctions are against the State of Israel. Today it’s four citizens, tomorrow it’s against half a million settlers and two days later against the entire country,” leader of the Religious Zionist Party Smotrich said in a social media post. “We will not stand aside in the face of this injustice.”
Israel’s government has promoted settlements for decades in violation of international law.
While critics have called Biden’s sanctions against four settlers a purely symbolic measure, others have said they could lay the groundwork for cutting off access to sources of important financial support in the US.
An Axios report said the Biden administration considered sanctions against Bezalel Smotrich but decided against the move.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has condemned US sanctions on Israeli settlers, saying he will make sure banks do not “harm the citizens of Israel because of an absurd decree that has no justification”.
“We are not a banana republic of the United States,” Smotrich added, according to local news outlet Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.
On Thursday, Washington imposed sanctions on four Israeli settlers for attacking Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, accusing them of undermining stability and security in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
But Palestinian rights advocates have said that the measures do not go far enough, calling for penalties against Israeli officials and an end to the US support for the war on Gaza.
LINK: https://aje.io/c5ei7w?update=2680575
