US sanctions against West Bank settlers

The US State Department and Department of Treasury have on Thursday sanctioned three Israeli individuals and four settlements connected to West Bank settlers. The individuals are Isachar Manne, Reut Ben Heim, Aviad Shlomo Sarid, and the four settlements are Manne Farm, Meitarim Farm, Hamahoch Farm and Neriya’s Farm. Lehava, an umbrella group of settlers with more than 10,000 members, has also been blacklisted.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in a statement on Thursday said, “The United States remains deeply concerned about extremist violence and instability in the West Bank, which undermines Israel’s own security.” He added, “We strongly encourage the Government of Israel to take immediate steps to hold these individuals and entities accountable. In the absence of such steps, we will continue to impose our own accountability measures.”

This is the first time that the US has taken a tough stance against Israel. America has supported the state without conditions. Only after the eruption of war in Gaza after the Hamas attack on October 7, which left 1,200 dead, and 250 were taken hostage there seems to be a shift. The US took a clear stand that the only solution to the problem is the two-state one of Israel and Palestine. In the immediate aftermath of the October7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not want to accept a two-state solution.

American President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken refused to budge from their stance of a two-state solution. President Biden even went to the extent of saying that American military supply would be held back if Israel did not agree to a humanitarian ceasefire. Netanyahu was furious but the Americans refused to step back from their stated position. The US Congress did release a bill sanctioning military aid to Israel though the legislators were not in favour of releasing a military package to Ukraine.

Critics of America’s Israel policy would say that the sanctions against the West Bank settlers are a mere eyewash, and that until there are sanctions against the Government of Israel, singling out individuals and groups is of no avail. The West Bank settlers are supported and encouraged by the Israeli government. If the economic sanctions were to have any impact on government policy then the sanctions have to be against the state of Israel. For example, the American sanctions against Iran are against the Iranian state. But it does not appear that the US is willing to act against the state of Israel as yet. So, sanctioning individuals and groups in the West Bank will prove to be ineffective.

As a matter of fact Israel remains defiant of the American position. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is being blamed for the rising tension in the US-Israeli relations.  But the West Bank settlers are defiant of the American government position. Lehava said, “Biden’s measures won’t deter us – we’ll continue to act fearlessly to save Israel’s daughters, much to the dismay of Biden and Israel’s other enemies.”

Biden has tried to prove that America is indeed a close ally of Israel. As a matter of fact, he had flown to Tel Aviv in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack. But Israel’s unrelenting attack on civilians in Gaza has turned public opinion in America as well as in Europe. Biden had to toughen his stance against Israel because of the eruption of public outrage across the campuses in the country.

University students form an important electoral base for the Democrats. Biden was aware of this. Among the protesting students were also Jews in America.  Biden cannot retreat now from his tough stance on Israel. It is also true that Biden cannot also press too forward with the presidential elections drawing near in November.