EU Approves Sanctions on Seven Israelis Tied to West Bank Settler Violence

The European Union foreign ministers' forum announced today (Monday) that the ministers decided by a majority vote to impose sanctions against "violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank." Reuters reported the decision. The sanctions were imposed on four organizations and three private individuals.

The organizations and individuals sanctioned by the European Union: the NGO Nachala; the group Amana; the organization Hashomer Yosh and its CEO, Avichai Suissa; the movement Regavim and its CEO, Meir Deutsch; and right-wing activist Daniella Weiss.

The EU's foreign minister, Kaja Kallas, said: "Foreign ministers approved the sanctions in response to violence against Palestinians. The ministers also agreed to impose new sanctions on leading figures in Hamas. It's time to break the deadlock. Extremism and violence carry consequences."

France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot: "The European Union is today imposing sanctions on the main Israeli organizations responsible for supporting extreme and violent settlement in the West Bank, as well as on their leaders. These grave and appalling acts must stop immediately".

Barrot added: "The European Union is imposing sanctions on the senior leaders of Hamas, responsible for the worst antisemitic massacre in our history since the Holocaust, during which 51 French citizens lost their lives—a terrorist organization that must be disarmed and excluded from any participation in Palestine's future. The hope that the French revived last year in New York—of two recognized states, each respected in its rights, living side by side in peace and security—will not be undermined by anyone".

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar responded: "Israel firmly rejects the decision to impose sanctions against Israeli citizens and organizations. The European Union chose, in an arbitrary and political manner, to impose sanctions against Israeli citizens and entities because of their political positions and without any basis. No less outrageous is the intolerable equivalence the European Union chose to draw between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists. This is a morally distorted comparison in every respect".

Sa'ar added: "Israel has stood, stands, and will stand for the right of Jews to live in the heart of our homeland. There is no nation in the world with such a documented and longstanding right to its land as the Jewish people have to the Land of Israel. This is a moral and historical right that has also been recognized in international law, and no actor can take it from the Jewish people. The attempt to dictate political conceptions through sanctions is unacceptable and will not succeed".

According to reports, an additional proposal was put forward by Sweden and France to impose sanctions on Israel in the realm of trade and commerce and, in practice, to ban the entry of products from the settlements into the European Union, as well as a full prohibition on bringing in such goods. For example, Psagot wine would have been banned from sale in the European Union.

Passing this proposal required a two-thirds majority, 65%, but Germany and Italy stood with Israel, withheld support, and the proposal failed.