JERUSALEM — Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway said Tuesday they have imposed sanctions on two far-right Israeli government ministers for allegedly “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The decision by Western governments friendly to Israel was a sharp rebuke of Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank and of settler violence, which has spiked since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, key partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, are champions of Israeli settlement who support continuing the war in Gaza, facilitating what they call the voluntary emigration of its Palestinian population and the rebuilding of Jewish settlements there.
They could now face asset freezes and travel bans.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the five countries said Ben-Gvir and Smotrich “have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous.”
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the two men “have been inciting violence against Palestinian people for months and months and months” and “encouraging egregious abuses of human rights.”
“These measures are directed at individuals who directly contribute to extremist settler violence,” said Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand. “The measures are not directed against the state of Israel itself.”
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Wednesday that Smotrich and Ben-Gvir “have severely and deliberately undermined” prospects for peace and security while “inciting violence and forced displacement.”
“Our action today is not against the Israeli people, who suffered immeasurably on October 7 and who have continued to suffer through Hamas’ ongoing refusal to release all hostages,” Peters said in a statement. “Nor is it designed to sanction the wider Israeli government.”
Smotrich wrote on social media that he learned of the sanctions while he was inaugurating a new West Bank settlement. “We are determined to continue building,” he said.
Ben-Gvir, also writing on social media, said “we overcame Pharoah, we’ll overcome Starmer’s Wall,” referring to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. condemned the sanctions and urged their reversal.
“We reject any notion of equivalence: Hamas is a terrorist organization that committed unspeakable atrocities, continues to hold innocent civilians hostage, and prevents the people of Gaza from living in peace,” he said in a post on X. “We remind our partners not to forget who the real enemy is.”
Israel’s government also condemned the announcement, which came as traditional allies of Israel escalate denouncements of Israel’s actions in Gaza, from the high civilian death toll to a monthslong blockade that led to famine warnings.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions decision “outrageous.” He said he had discussed it with Netanyahu and that they would meet next week to discuss Israel’s response.
He said the move threatened to harden Hamas’ stance in ongoing negotiations to end the war in Gaza and to cut short Israel’s operation in Gaza before it achieves its goals.
Benny Gantz, a centrist Israeli lawmaker and political rival to Netanyahu, wrote that he “vehemently” disagreed with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, but said the move was a “profound moral mistake and sends a dangerous message to terrorists around the world.”
Netanyahu is the target of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court last year over alleged war crimes in Gaza, part of a global wave of outrage at Israel’s conduct during its 20-month war against Hamas. Netanyahu has denied the allegations and accused the court of being biased against Israel.
The Biden administration took the rare step of sanctioning radical Israeli settlers implicated in violence in the occupied West Bank — sanctions that were lifted by President Donald Trump.
Eitay Mack, an Israeli human rights lawyer who spent years campaigning for the sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir — along with violent West Bank settlers — described Tuesday’s move as “historic.”
“It means the wall of immunity that Israeli politicians had has been broken,” he said. “It’s unbelievable that it took so long for Western governments to sanction Israeli politicians, and the fact that it’s being done while Trump is president is quite amazing.”
Mack added: “It is a message to Netanyahu himself that he could be next.”
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state.
Successive Israeli governments have promoted settlement growth and construction stretching back decades. It has exploded under Netanyahu’s far-right coalition, which has settlers in key Cabinet posts.
There are now well over 100 settlements across the West Bank that house more than 500,000 settlers. The settlers have Israeli citizenship, while the territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers.
Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal, and Palestinians see them as the greatest obstacle to an eventual two-state solution, which is still seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict.
