Two Israeli ministers find themselves banned from five countries and their overseas assets frozen in each following comments deemed to be inciting violence against Palestinians.
The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway sanctioned Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday.
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The five nations issued a joint statement condemning “extremist Israeli settlers” who “undermine a future Palestinian state” and accusing the two ministers of “repeated incitement of violence against Palestinian civilians.”
“The U.K. has made clear in public and private to the Netanyahu government that Israel must cease expansion of illegal settlements which undermine a future Palestinian state, clamp down on settler violence, and condemn inflammatory and extremist statements from both individuals,” the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office announced.
The statement continued, “The measures announced by international partners today demonstrate commitment to ensuring the individuals are held accountable for encouraging and inciting human rights abuses.”
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have been at the tip of the spear for Israeli settlement projects annexing land deeper and deeper into the West Bank.
Israel extended its expansion projects last month with 22 new settlements approved for construction or inauguration.
The Palestinian Authority has called this latest round of settler land grabs a “dangerous escalation,” and the international community repeatedly condemns the practice as illegal.
Smotrich calls it “next step sovereignty.”
The finance minister has an extensive history of comments advocating the destruction of Palestinian communities and the mass deportation of locals. He was forced to apologize in 2023 after Israeli Air Force pilots protested his stated desire for Israel to “wipe out” the Palestinian village of Huwara.
Smotrich was undeterred by the sanctions, acknowledging the situation during the inauguration of yet another Israeli settlement in the Hebron Hills.
“Britain has already tried once to prevent us from settling the cradle of our homeland, and we cannot do it again,” the finance minister said. “We are determined, God willing, to continue building.”
Ben-Gvir was similarly undaunted by the sanctions, comparing modern Israel to the Jews of ancient Egypt suffering under slavery.
“We survived Pharaoh, we will also survive [U.K. Prime Minister] Keir Starmer,” the national security minister said in response to the British ministry’s announcement. “I will continue to work for Israel and the people of Israel without fear or intimidation!”
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy affirmed the U.K.’s commitment to a peaceful two-state solution and claimed such efforts were “imperilled by extremist settler violence and settlement expansion.”
“Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. These actions are not acceptable. This is why we have taken action now – to hold those responsible to account,” said Lammy.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the joint sanctions “unacceptable decisions” and said it was “outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to these kind of measures.”
Sa’ar said he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who agreed the national Cabinet would meet next week to formulate a response.