Netanyahu protests US sanctions on Israeli settlers at the White House
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Netanyahu meets with the White House's Jake Sullivan to protest against US sanctions, claiming they are counterproductive.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington D.C., July 24, 2024. (AFP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu protested against US sanctions on Israeli settlers imposed by the Biden administration for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank to White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan on Thursday, two Israeli and US officials said.
The occupation's leader raised concerns about the United States potentially establishing sanctions against Israeli cabinet members Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, expressing to Sullivan that they are counterproductive.
For his part, the White House advisor disagreed with Netanyahu regarding the imposed sanctions on Israeli settlers, adding that the Biden administration would continue with this policy.
"The Vice President also expressed her concern about actions that undermine stability and security in the West Bank, such as extremist settler violence and settlement expansion," Kamala Harris' spokesperson said in response to Netanyahu's raised concerns about the vice president.
Additional US sanctions on 'Israel'
The White House National Security Council held a meeting last week, discussing the imposition of additional sanctions on Israeli settlers and entities involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, Axios reported on Saturday.
The Biden administration has decided to implement these stricter sanctions in an attempt to change the Israeli government's genocidal expansion of settlements and disregard for the Palestinian Authority. In addition, the sanctions aim to prevent extreme members of the Israeli government from aligning with extremist settler groups.
US imposes sanctions on Israeli 'extremists' over West Bank violence
The United States on July 11 slapped fresh sanctions on Israeli settlers for violence against Palestinians, in addition to financial restrictions on four West Bank settlement outposts.
The State Department also blacklisted Lehava, which it defined as the "largest violent extremist organization in Israel" with over 10,000 members.
The use of the term "extremist" reflects an attempt to draw an allegedly distinct line between Israeli settlers and "extremist settlers".
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, "We strongly encourage the government of Israel to take immediate steps to hold these individuals and entities accountable," detailing that while these steps remain absent, "we will continue to impose our own accountability measures."
While being fully supportive of the Israeli war on Gaza, the US has repeatedly advised Benjamin Netanyahu not to escalate violence in the West Bank, something that draws international condemnation.
Miller added that "outposts like these have been used to disrupt grazing lands, limit access to wells, and launch violent attacks against neighboring Palestinians."
The occupation distinguishes between what it calls "wildcat outposts" (those erected without government authority) and government-approved settlements, recently approving 3 "wildcat outposts", something Peace Now called a step toward the usurpation of the West Bank.
Israeli police repeatedly clashed with settlers in the occupied West Bank while dismantling an unauthorized settler outpost last week, according to video footage reviewed by Reuters.
The video showed police using excavators to demolish makeshift structures at the outpost. Settlers attempted to block police access by sitting across a road, but officers removed them forcibly, as depicted in the video.
This is happening as "Israel" faces international pressure to restrict settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. The outpost, located in a rural region, violates both Israeli and international laws.
"Israel" issued an order in March to seize 8,000 dunams of land in the Jordan Valley, east of the occupied West Bank, with the decision signed by extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
