4 days after mixup, US unsanctions innocent Israeli, blacklists similarly-named activist

Four days after wrongly sanctioning an Israeli man after confusing him with a similarly-named right-wing activist, the US Treasury finally fixes the error and puts the correct individual on its blacklist.

On Thursday, Washington issued its fifth batch of sanctions against Israeli extremists and illegal outposts, targeting three individuals and five entities.

They included the co-heads of the already-designated Tzav 9 group, Reut Ben Haim and Shlomo Sarid. Their group has led attacks on humanitarian aid convoys en route to Gaza in Israel and the West Bank, charging that no aid should reach the Strip as long as hostages are being held there.

Shortly after the US announcement, it was revealed that the Treasury Department had confused Sarid with an uninvolved Israeli named Aviad Shlomo Sarid, listing the latter’s ID number and birthdate, instead of the information of the Sarid who heads Tzav 9.

Aviad Shlomo Sarid, who lives in the West Bank’s Revava, has since had his bank account and credit card blocked, even though his identity appeared on the blacklist in error.

Now, the Treasury has replaced him on the list with the correct personal information of the Tzav 9 co-head, whose full name is Shlomo Yehezkel Hai Sarid.

Commenting to the Israel Hayom daily, Sarid doubles down on his activism, saying he and his group “will continue to do everything to change the policy of aiding Hamas, which harms our soldiers, until all hostages are returned.”

He says Tzav 9 now has a new objective, “fighting the draconian sanctions set by the American administration against legitimate protest activists in an independent, seemingly democratic ally, without basis, advance notice or an appeal option.” He calls on the Israeli government to “wake up and defend its citizens.”