Posted by Why has US President Trump removed sanctions on Israeli settlers?
The Israeli far-right has celebrated Trump lifting sanctions imposed on some settlers by his predecessor Joe Biden.
Published On 22 Jan 2025
Among the host of executive orders signed by United States President Donald Trump following his inauguration on Monday was the lifting of sanctions imposed on more than 30 Israeli settler groups and entities by the administration of former President Joe Biden.
Settler violence has long been a fact of life for Palestinians living within the occupied West Bank. But attacks and the theft of Palestinian land have soared since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza.
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Trump’s move has been celebrated by Israel’s far-right, although it came soon after the new president pushed for a ceasefire in Gaza, much to that faction’s anger. So what can we learn from the removal of sanctions, and what will Trump’s policy on Israel and Palestine be?
What were the sanctions imposed on the settlers?
Under the terms of the sanctions individuals and entities were blocked from accessing all US property, assets, as well as the US financial system.
Who did the sanctions target?
Illegal Israeli settlements have been built across the West Bank since it was seized by Israel in 1967. The settlements are built on seized Palestinian land, and are part of an effort by the setter movement and the Israeli government to increase control over the West Bank. Palestinians emphasise that the settlements – where they are not allowed to live – effectively make it impossible to establish a Palestinian state.
A number of individuals and entities had been hit by the sanctions. Among them were the settlement development organisation Amana, as well as its subsidiary Binyanei Bar Amana Ltd, both of which were determined by US officials to be among the organisations serving as umbrella bodies for violent and extremist settler activity.
Individuals, such as David Chai Chasdai, with convictions in Israel for violence against Palestinians reaching back more than a decade, were also included, as well as many settlers determined by US officials to have established illegal outposts or settlements on Palestinian land, such as the Svis Farm, established by a settler, Zvi Bar Yosef, described by the anti-occupation researcher Dror Etkes, as having been responsible for the “most brutal assaults I’ve ever heard about in terms of settler attacks”.
However, despite the Biden administration’s uncompromising rhetoric, plans to sanction the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion following a string of alleged abuses, including the arbitrary killing and torture of Palestinian civilians, were shelved after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly objected.
Why did the US impose sanctions on its ally’s citizens
The sanctions came as the Biden administration faced pressure to use its power to stop Israel’s war on Gaza, including by suspending arms sales.
Unwilling to do so, the administration instead carried out several lesser measures seeking to influence Israel’s actions and signal its displeasure, such as the sanctions on select settler groups and individuals.
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