US issues largest yet batch of sanctions against Israeli extremists, West Bank outposts
Those targeted include anti-miscegenation Lehava group led by Ben Gvir ally, leaders of group behind attacks on Gaza aid convoys and 4 wildcat towns tied to attacks on Palestinians
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
The Biden administration on Thursday issued its fifth batch of sanctions against Israeli extremists and illegal outposts, targeting three individuals and five entities, including the anti-miscegenation Lehava group led by already-designated extremist Benzi Gopstein, an ally of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The sanctions largely take aim at individuals and entities linked to those already sanctioned in the previous four rounds.
These include the co-heads of the already-designated Tzav 9 group, Reut Ben Haim and Shlomo Sarid. Their far-right group has led attacks on humanitarian aid convoys en route to Gaza in Israel and the West Bank. Ben Haim becomes the first woman targeted using the executive order United States President Joe Biden signed in February after three years of urging Israel to crack down on settler violence.
Shortly after the US announcement, the Kan public broadcaster 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.
Treasury Department sanctions were also imposed on four West Bank outposts owned or controlled by other already-designated extremists “who have weaponized them as bases for violent actions to displace Palestinians,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says in a statement. “Outposts like these have been used to disrupt grazing lands, limit access to wells, and launch violent attacks against neighboring Palestinians.”
The targeted outposts are Meitarim Farm run by already-sanctioned Yinon Levi; HaMahoch Farm and Neria’s Farm run by the already sanctioned Neria Ben Pazi; and Manne’s Farm, run by Issachar Manne, who is among the three individuals sanctioned in the latest batch.
While the international community considers all settlements illegal, Israel differentiates between settlement homes built and permitted by the Defense Ministry on land owned by the state, and illegal outposts built without the necessary permits, often on private Palestinian land. In recent years, though, the government has increasingly sought to regulate the wildcat outposts, rather than demolish them.
Documents obtained by The Times of Israel in February revealed that a corporation owned by the Har Hebron Regional Council signed a legally binding contract with Levi to establish Meitarim Farm in 2021, thereby exposing the settlement municipality to US sanctions as well.
In March, a High Court petition was filed demanding authorities to demolish Ben Pazi’s HaMahoch Farm after the founder was sanctioned by the US over involvement in attacks against Palestinians. Last month, a Peace Now report revealed that the Agriculture Ministry has funneled over $13,000 in the form of a grant for Ben Pazi to grave livestock at one of his other illegal outposts, exposing the government office to sanctions as well.
As for Lehava, the US State Department says the group “has grown into the largest violent extremist organization in Israel, with chapters in every city and more than 10,000 registered members. [Its] members have engaged in acts of violence against Palestinians, affecting the West Bank.
Lehava has already been sanctioned by both the European Union and the United Kingdom, as Western capitals intensify their cooperation on the settler sanction front.
In 2015, then-defense minister Moshe Ya’alon advanced an effort to ban Lehava in Israel; but authorities pushed back, arguing there was insufficient evidence to blacklist the far-right group.
The largest yet batch of sanctions was the latest escalation in the administration’s effort to hold Israelis accountable for settler violence, which goes almost entirely unchecked. The outgoing head of the Israel Defense Forces Central Command called out settler leaders for failing to root out extremist residents who have been behind regular attacks against Palestinians, Israeli security forces and left-wing Israeli activists in the West Bank.
“The United States remains deeply concerned about extremist violence and instability in the West Bank, which undermines Israel’s own security. We strongly encourage the Government of Israel to take immediate steps to hold these individuals and entities accountable. In the absence of such steps, we will continue to impose our own accountability measures,” Miller says.
The Treasury Department has simultaneously issued a public advisory to financial institutions to help them better identify individuals and entities targeted under the executive order on settler violence in addition to those trying to transfer money to sanctioned parties.
The “red flag” indicators of suspicious activity related to financing settler violence include payments to anyone linked to a West Bank outpost and payments to crowdfunding sites for convicted, imprisoned or US-sanctioned settler extremists. The Treasury alert also urges financial institutions to be on the look for crowdfunding campaigns that include phrases such as state land, Area C, preserving state land, hilltop youth, youth of the hills, or stopping supply convoys. Violent settlers have often described their activism as being tied to the alleged preservation of public land in the West Bank from Palestinian encroachment or construction.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
