The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on organizations and companies involved in illegal settlement development in the occupied West Bank. These include decades-old, well-established groups with close ties to the Israeli leadership.
The Treasury Department has sanctioned Amanah and its subsidiary Binyanei Bar Amanah, the largest organization involved in illegal settlement development in the West Bank. Amana is already under sanctions from the UK and Canada and is one of the major financiers and supporters of illegal settlements in the Israeli-occupied West. bank. Its assets are worth about 600 million Israeli shekels, or about $160 million, and its annual budget is in the tens of millions of shekels, according to settlement tracking group Peace Now.
According to Peace Now, West Bank-based Amana has no known ties to U.S. appliance manufacturers, but over the past several years has underwritten loans, signed contracts, purchased equipment and built new settlements. He has been funding infrastructure projects for the region. Settlements, small-scale agricultural outposts, are some of the main sources of violence and displacement for Palestinians living in the West Bank.
In addition, the State Department imposed diplomatic sanctions on Eyal Hari Yehuda, a company that provides construction logistics to sanctioned groups, and the company’s owner, Itamar Yehuda Levi. Shabtai Koshlewski, co-founder of the nonprofit organization Hashomer Yosh, which has already been sanctioned, and Zohar Sabaha, an Israeli national who has committed acts of violence against Palestinians, were also sanctioned.
The penalties come as settlers in the region celebrate the arrival of the Trump administration and believe the administration is likely to take a more favorable approach to settlements. During his first term, President Trump took unprecedented steps to support Israel’s territorial claims, including recognizing Jerusalem as its capital, moving the U.S. embassy there, and recognizing Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights.
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said the United States “remains committed to holding accountable those who seek to facilitate these destabilizing activities that threaten stability in the West Bank, Israel, and the broader region. ” he said.
Among other things, the sanctions deny citizens and businesses access to any property or financial assets held in the United States and prevent American businesses and citizens from doing business with them.
President Joe Biden issued an executive order in February targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank, who are accused of attacking Palestinians and Israeli peace activists in the occupied territories. The order is being used to justify financial penalties against companies and men.
In response, the Christian nonprofit Texans for Israel and the Israeli nonprofit Regavim sued the Biden administration in Amarillo, Texas, in August over sanctions against Israeli extremists in the West Bank.
Human rights lawyer Aitey Mak, who has spent years campaigning for sanctions against violent settlers in the West Bank, said the sanctions against Amana are “a shock to the settlement project, especially to the shepherd farms.” spoke. He called on the United States to immediately extend sanctions against Israel’s provocative Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, also a far-right settler in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.
Amana’s leadership, along with ministers, appeared at a settlement promotion event. Peace Now said the group’s secretary-general, Zeev Haver, was welcomed by Smotrich at a June meeting, where he explained his plans for the West Bank.
Violence against Palestinians and their displacement has further intensified since the Israeli-Hamas war began on October 7, 2023. During this period, approximately 8,000 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank, and more than 700 humanitarian workers and Palestinian health officials were killed, according to the United Nations Coordination Office.
Palestinians in the West Bank, local rights groups and sanctioned Israelis who spoke to The Associated Press previously reported that the impact of sanctions has been minimal and that settlers have been forced to move further as attacks and land grabs escalate. He reported that he is encouraging us. Additionally, Smotrich has previously vowed to intervene on behalf of sanctioned settlers.
Israel occupied the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East War. Palestinians want these territories for their desired future state.
Settlement expansion and construction has been promoted by successive Israeli governments for decades, but has exploded under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition, which includes settlers in key cabinet positions. There are now well over 100 settlements and 500,000 Israeli settlers spread across the territory from north to south, a reality that diminishes hopes for a final two-state solution. says rights groups.
“We reiterate our call on the Israeli government to take action and hold accountable those responsible and perpetrators of violence, displacement, and property dispossession,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. The United States will continue to promote accountability for those who further destabilize the situation in the West Bank and support extremist violence in the region. ”
