NEW sanctions against extremist Israeli settler networkers are “wholly insufficient”, a leading charity has warned.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper unveiled the measures in the Commons on Tuesday to criticism from those who said they “barely move the dial”.
The UK Government has put sanctions on six entities and one person as part of a move to counter “those who support and sponsor violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank”.
They are:
- The Farms Association (provides financial and organisational support to Israeli settler farms and outposts in the West Bank, including those associated with violence, intimidation and forced displacement of Palestinians)
- Ahavat Gilad (serves as a financial conduit for the Farms Association, channelling donations to settler outposts including those associated with violence against Palestinians)
- Ari Yshag (fundraises for illegal settler outposts associated with violence, intimidation and forced displacement of Palestinians)
- Artzenu (promotes, finances and resources settler farms and outposts associated with violence against Palestinians, including fundraising for tactical military equipment for armed settler squads)
- Shivat Zion Lerigvey Admata (the registered legal vehicle through which Artzenu’s financial activities are conducted, channelling donations to outposts linked to serious human rights abuses)
- Eyal Hari Yehuda (construction and demolition company that facilitates, supports and is responsible for owners, staff, associates and family members who have used company resources while hired on construction and demolition jobs in the West Bank to destroy Palestinian land and property, as well as physically attack, shoot and kill Palestinians, which has led to the wider displacement of Palestinians)
- Itamar Yehuda Levi (owner of Eyal Hari Yehuda)
Cooper said: “Today we are acting with our international partners to sanction those who support and sponsor violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
“Settler expansion and violence is illegal and a fundamental threat to the viability of a two-state solution, and to long-term peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.
“These measures show the UK is leading with our partners to target those who are fuelling this violence.”
Canada, France and Norway have also sanctioned those listed above.
The UK Government said the sanctions, which include the freezing of assets and travel bans in certain circumstances as well as direct disqualifications, would disrupt the flow of cash which has allowed extremist settler groups murder Palestinians with impunity in the West Bank.
But leading charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said the measures do not go far enough.
Rohan Talbot, MAP’s director of advocacy and campaigns, said: “These new sanctions are necessary but wholly insufficient. They will barely move the dial on ending Israeli annexation and apartheid in the West Bank and fall well below the Government’s obligations to uphold international law. The Government must urgently go further and end the impunity with which Israel is expanding illegal settlements, entrenching its occupation, and violently pushing Palestinian communities off their land.
"Every day, MAP's mobile clinics reach communities cut off from healthcare by settlements, checkpoints, and movement restrictions and apartheid policies which deny them access to services. We see the consequences first-hand: livelihoods destroyed, people injured and killed in violent attacks, and patients travelling hours for basic treatment while life-saving care remains out of reach.
“The government must immediately end trade with illegal settlements. Otherwise, this will look less like a turning point and more like another attempt to look the other way while the bulldozers keep moving.”
Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK’s crisis response manager, said: “Targeting settler financing networks while the ministers who run this campaign face no consequences is not meaningful accountability – it leaves the architects untouched. The UK must sanction Benjamin Netanyahu, Orit Strock and Israel Katz as well as former defence minister Yoav Gallant.
“Investigating UK charities providing funding to Israeli settlements is welcome, as is the recognition that businesses should not be conducting activities in settlements. But business guidance alone is insufficient. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UK must ban all trade with settlements and halt cooperation and investment relations enabling unlawful occupation and apartheid.”
It comes as Israeli settler violence against Palestinians reaches record levels while work on the E1 project – which will sever the north and south of the occupied West Bank – continues despite outrage from Israel’s allies.
