EU imposes sanctions on Israeli settlers and youth groups

The EU has repeatedly condemned settler attacks in the West Bank – now it is sending a clear signal: for the first time it is imposing sanctions on four people and two youth groups. The US Treasury Department also imposed new penalties.

Violent acts by radical Israeli settlers are seen as an obstacle to efforts to find a long-term peace solution in the Middle East conflict. Now, for the first time, the EU has decided on sanctions against people and organizations that are said to be responsible for attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.

The penalties are imposed using the EU sanctions instrument to punish serious human rights violations. People who are affected are no longer allowed to enter the EU or do business with EU citizens. In addition, those affected must have their accounts and other assets frozen in the EU.

Allegations of torture and humiliation

As the EU Official Journal shows, there are four men who are accused of, for example, torture, humiliation or violations of property rights. The radical youth group Hilltop Youth and a right-wing radical Jewish group called Lehava are also affected. Hilltop Youth is a group made up of members known for acts of violence against Palestinians and their villages in the West Bank, according to the EU Official Journal.

The EU justifies the punitive measures against Lehava by saying, among other things, that she uses violence and incites violence against Palestinians, Christians and Messianic Jews. Lehava members, for example, sang “Death to the Arabs” and called for people to take up arms at rallies. Lehava also organizes violent protests against Jewish-Muslim weddings and the LGBTQI community. Lehava members also harassed and attacked Arab-Jewish couples.

Decision means change of course

The EU has repeatedly condemned the acts of violence and the construction of settlements – but to date there has never been the necessary consensus for punitive measures. The sanction decision is therefore seen as a sign of a change of course in the EU’s Israel policy, even if the punitive measures themselves have comparatively little impact on those affected.

With the sanctions, the EU is following the example of the USA. The United States has already imposed punitive measures targeting extremist Israeli settlers. Today the Treasury Department in Washington followed suit with further measures. The new sanctions therefore affect Ben-Zion Gopstein. He is considered a close confidant of the radical Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Gopstein is the founder and leader of the right-wing extremist Lehava.

USA freezes assets

At the same time, the USA sanctioned two organizations that were said to have financially supported two extremist settlers who had already been sanctioned. The men are “responsible for the destruction of property, attacks on civilians and violence against Palestinians,” said Deputy Finance Minister Wally Adeyemo. “Such actions undermine peace, security and stability in the West Bank.”

As a result of the sanctions, potential assets of those affected will be blocked in the USA. U.S. citizens or people located in the United States are prohibited from doing business with the sanctioned organizations and individuals. Banks that do business with them may also face sanctions.

The number of settlements is growing

One reason for the tense situation in the West Bank is that Israel has been expanding disputed settlements there since it conquered the area in the Six-Day War in 1967. The number of settlers in the area that lies between Israel’s heartland and Jordan has now risen to around half a million. Including East Jerusalem there are even 700,000. The settlers live among around three million Palestinians.