Israeli officials welcome Trump’s decision to remove sanctions imposed by the Biden administration.
US President Donald Trump issued an executive order lifting sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Trump issued the order, among a series of controversial measures, as he returned to the White House on Monday. The sanctions were imposed by his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, through an executive order in February.
Biden’s actions paved the way for the US State and Treasury Departments to sanction several far-right individuals and groups accused of perpetrating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967 despite of international law, freezing their US assets and prohibiting US organizations and individuals from having business relations with them.
While much of the world’s attention has been focused on the war in Gaza, increasing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and land grabs in the occupied territory have raised concerns among some of Israel’s Western allies.
On Monday and Tuesday, settlers set fire to vehicles and property under the protection of Israeli soldiers. At least 21 Palestinians were reported injured.
Since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, at least 860 Palestinians, including 175 children, have been killed and more than 6,700 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and settlers across the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
“Lifting sanctions on extremist settlers encourages them to commit more crimes against our people,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
‘The United States has become our friend again’
Israeli officials welcomed Trump’s “historic decision” to reverse sanctions.
Yossi Dagan, head of the West Bank Northern Settlements Council, said the revocation of the “outrageous sanctions” was “a political message that the United States has become our friend again,” according to Israeli media.
“This is a reparation for a long-standing injustice, in which the US administration and also local elements applied distorted policies that confused lovers with enemies,” Itamar Ben-Gvir, the former national security minister of extreme right. .
His ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, said Trump’s stance shows his “deep connection to the Jewish people and our historic right to our land.”
“These sanctions were a serious act of blatant foreign interference in the internal affairs of the State of Israel and damaged the principles of democracy and the mutual relationship between the two friendly countries,” he said.
The US sanctions on settlers came after the Biden administration repeatedly urged the Israeli government to take steps to hold settlers accountable for actions that Washington believed were setting back hopes for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. .
Since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which the Palestinians want as the nucleus of an independent state. Israel has built settlements there, which are illegal under international law.
Israel disputes this and cites historical and biblical ties to the land.
