The decision handed down by the International Court of Justice on Friday, July 19, in The Hague, which deemed the occupation of the Palestinian territories "unlawful," promises to provide food for thought for Washington, the European Union (EU), and several states that have begun imposing sanctions against Israeli citizens and organizations involved in settlement violence. These punitive measures, the most recent of which were taken by the European Union on July 15, were initiated in December 2023 by Joe Biden's US administration.

Still symbolic and reversible, applying to dozens of individuals with little authority and a handful of entities, they nonetheless break "a taboo" according to one European diplomat, for whom "serious discussion of this issue was not even conceivable two years ago." Weak though they may be, they set in motion mechanisms, establish legal precedents, and open up a field of possibilities that worry the Israeli authorities. Another European diplomat summed up: "With the advances made by the international courts and these waves of sanctions, Israel runs an ever greater risk of being treated as a pariah state."

An executive order issued by President Biden in February allows the administration to bypass Congress to sanction individuals and entities in Israel for violence, but also for having contributed to destabilizing the West Bank and monopolizing Palestinian land. Armed with this legal leverage, his administration adopts a new set of sanctions regularly, every few months, in a planned manner and with concrete consequences: Because of their transactions in dollars, Israeli banks, where the individuals and entities placed under sanctions have accounts, are obliged to freeze these assets.

In June, two owners of Israeli farms, among dozens established since 2017 in vast remote areas of the West Bank, were targeted. These agricultural settlements contribute to the forced displacement of Bedouins, in the shadow of the war in Gaza. The men have been punished for acts of violence, but also for land grabbing.

A body of case law is now being built up, paving the way for sanctions against larger organizations and even political leaders. In the run-up to the US presidential election in November, diplomatic sources and experts have mentioned several new targets: first and foremost, Regavim, an organization involved in setting up farms and destroying Palestinian buildings, as well as EU-funded infrastructure (schools, solar panels).

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