Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich attends a press conference about the government’s war financing in Jerusalem, Oct. 15, 2023. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
(JTA) — In a dramatic rebuke of Israel’s leadership, five Western countries announced Tuesday that they are sanctioning two senior Israeli cabinet ministers, accusing them of inciting violence against Palestinians and obstructing peace efforts.
The move by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway targets Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, both of whom are among the most far-right figures in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. The sanctions include travel and financial restrictions and mark an unprecedented escalation in pressure on Israel by its traditional allies.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have long drawn international criticism for inflammatory rhetoric and hardline policies toward Palestinians and both have advocated for the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who has previously described the ministers’ calls to expel Palestinians as “monstrous,” accused Ben-Gvir and Smotrich of inciting violence and human rights abuses.
“These actions are not acceptable. This is why we have taken action now — to hold those responsible to account,” Lammy said in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of the other four countries.
In announcing the sanctions, the five governments said they are seeking to pressure the Israeli government to halt settlement expansion and curb settler violence in the West Bank and move toward a ceasefire in Gaza. The measures are also meant to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The news drew sharp reactions from Israeli officials, including Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who called the sanctions “scandalous and unacceptable.”
“The diplomatic pressure on Israel, which takes various forms, has one goal: causing a ceasefire without accomplishing the war’s objectives, while allowing Hamas to continue ruling in Gaza and threatening Israeli security,” Saar said in a post on X.
The reaction from Saar, as well as those from Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, invoked the era of Mandatory Palestine, when the Zionist movement fought against British rule to establish a Jewish state.
“Britain tried once before to prevent us from settling our ancestral land and we won’t let them do so again,” Smotrich wrote. “We are determined, with God’s help, to continue building.”
The announcement of the sanctions comes just weeks after the leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada and France issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s renewed military offensive in Gaza as “wholly disproportionate” and warned of further action if conditions did not improve.
France, notably, did not join the sanctions announced Tuesday, reflecting some divergence in approaches to Israel among Western governments. The United States, meanwhile, had been ratcheting up pressure on Israel with sanctions targeting Israeli extremists but President Donald Trump lifted those sanctions shortly after he took office earlier this year.
