Israel on Tuesday called sanctions imposed by several countries over violence by settlers in the West Bank “disgraceful” and accused foreign governments of attempting to dictate political outcomes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a statement posted by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the government said it “firmly rejects the disgraceful measures adopted by foreign governments against Israeli citizens, entities and a government minister.”
The ministry argued the sanctions were aimed at imposing “a political stance regarding the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel” while being presented as efforts to curb violence.
The rebuke came after the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, and Norway announced a new round of sanctions targeting individuals and organizations linked to settler violence in the West Bank. The joint statement said the measures are intended to disrupt networks of finance that allegedly facilitate attacks against Palestinians and to support efforts toward a two-state solution.
“For too long, violent settlers have been able to act with near impunity, and settlement expansion and creation of outposts continue with the support and facilitation of the Government of Israel,” the statement said.
Israel criticized what it described as a failure by those governments to address Palestinian incitement and the Palestinian Authority’s controversial “pay-for-slay” policy of providing payments to the families of Palestinians imprisoned or killed in connection with attacks on Israelis.
“Astonishingly, these governments have also failed to impose sanctions or take action against the phenomena that truly drive violence – the Palestinian Authority’s salaries for terrorists (“pay-for-slay”) policy and incitement,” the statement said.
The sanctions follow weeks of mounting international pressure on Israel over deteriorating conditions in the West Bank, with the United Nations saying there has been an average of six attacks by settlers per day this year. Last month, the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and the Netherlands issued a joint statement saying that settler violence had reached “unprecedented levels” and that continued settlement expansion threatened the viability of a future Palestinian state.
THE FUTURE OF THE PALESTINIAN MOVEMENT
In its response Tuesday, Israel also accused the governments behind the sanctions of failing to adequately confront antisemitism within their own countries and argued that the measures would only encourage anti-Jewish sentiment.
“What these governments have in common is their resounding failure to combat the antisemitism that is rampant in their own countries,” the foreign ministry said. “Anti-Israeli policies of the kind adopted today only serve to fuel that antisemitism.”