American Israeli settlers sanctioned for violence sue Biden administration
Issachar Manne and Levi Yitzchak Pilant say US violated their constitutional rights to due process and equal protection, dispute allegations they attacked Palestinian civilians
Two American Israeli citizens who were sanctioned in 2024 by the Biden administration over alleged violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank sued various US agencies and officials on Wednesday, arguing that the action violated their constitutional rights to due process and equal protection.
Issachar Manne, who was sanctioned in July, and Levi Yitzchak Pilant, who was sanctioned in August, sued the US Treasury and State Department, as well as the Office of Foreign Asset Controls, and the three bodies’ respective heads, in a Washington federal court, according to records available online.
The US asserted last year that Manne, who operates a farm in the Hebron Hills, was connected to acts of violence against Palestinian civilians and efforts to dispossess Palestinians of their property.
The US alleged that Pilant, the security coordinator for the Yitzhar settlement, “engaged in malign activities outside the scope of his authority,” including leading a group of armed settlers in February 2024 to set up roadblocks and patrols to attack Palestinians and “forcefully expel them from their lands.”
The announcement of the sanctions against Manne — imposed under a February 2024 executive order meant to combat “extremist violence against civilians” — explicitly identified Manne as a “foreign person” and did not mention that he is a US citizen.
Pilant, sanctioned through the same executive order, was not explicitly named a “foreign person,” though this was the category of people designated by the executive order as potential targets.
Jewish Insider reported that according to the lawsuit, the sanctions resulted in the men’s credit cards being canceled and their bank accounts frozen, preventing them from making essential payments such as their children’s school fees and receiving essential income, such as Pilant’s compensation for reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces amid the ongoing war.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys — working with the National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC), as well as the Jerusalem-based Zell, Aron & Co., and Pennsylvania-based Marcus & Marcus law firms — argue that their clients are ineligible for sanctions by virtue of their US citizenship.
The settlers’ legal team also argued that by imposing the sanctions without a trial, the administration violated the dual citizens’ right to due process, as guaranteed in the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment. They further suggest that the executive order itself could violate that provision, citing a 1972 ruling by the US Supreme Court that “vague laws may trap the innocent by not providing fair warning.”
In addition, the lawyers dispute that the accusations against their clients are true, and suggest that by mistakenly labeling Manne a “foreign person” — a term they argue is inconsistent with US citizenship — the administration demonstrated it can’t be trusted to ascertain the facts of the matter in this case.
“If they can’t verify whether someone is a US citizen, can we really believe that they verified the accusations they made against these people? No,” said Eugene Kontorovich, an NJAC legal consultant, speaking to Jewish Insider.
The lawyers claim that Manne’s West Bank property was not acquired illegally and that no Palestinians were dispossessed of legitimate property as a result of his actions, contrary to the State Department’s allegations. They also claim that Pilant’s activities setting up roadblocks and searching Palestinians were not meant to attack or dispossess them, but rather were necessary and legitimate security measures taken as part of their client’s military duties.
Additionally, the plaintiff’s lawyers argue that the White House never used the February executive order to levy sanctions against Palestinian groups that targeted Jewish civilians, but only against Jews who allegedly targeted Palestinians, asserting that this constitutes discrimination and violates their clients’ right to equal protection under the law.
The order’s preamble notes “high levels of extremist settler violence” when describing the situation in the West Bank. The US has separately imposed heavy sanctions on figures and organizations associated with Palestinian terrorism.
The order, being an executive measure, can be overturned by a succeeding administration. Incoming president Donald Trump, who is set to take office on January 20, has signaled a more positive approach to West Bank settlement, along the lines of his administration’s policy during his first term in office. He has not, however, officially indicated that he plans to lift the Biden administration’s sanctions against settlers.
The February 2024 executive order came amid a surge in settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank following the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023 attack against Israel, which started the ongoing war.
Israel has long struggled to deal with settler violence, but the problem seems to have intensified since far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir became minister in charge of the police two years ago.
In July, outgoing IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox lambasted settler leaders for failing to curb the violence, saying that some Israelis have adopted “the ways of the enemy.”
On Monday, High Court justices impatiently demanded answers for the failure of police to curb settler violence in the southern West Bank, as the court reviewed a petition by residents of the Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta, who have accused the IDF, the Israel Police and the Defense Ministry of contempt of court for failing to fulfill court orders to protect them from violence.
That same day, settlers rampaged through several Palestinian villages, hours after a deadly shooting attack killed three Israelis in the same area, according to multiple reports.
Settler violence has also gone on for three nights in a row this week, most recently overnight Thursday-Friday, when settlers raided a village in the West Bank and set fire to Palestinian property northeast of Ramallah.
Emanuel Fabian and Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
