WASHINGTON, November 15, 2024 (WAFA) - Nearly 90 congressional Democrats are calling on President Joe Biden to impose sanctions on two far-right Israeli government officials for their roles in inciting settler violence in the West Bank.
“Violent settlers, fueled by the inflammatory rhetoric and incitement to violence by members of the Israeli cabinet, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and empowered by extremist organizations like Regavim and Amana, have carried out over 1,270 recorded attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, averaging more than three violent attacks per day,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to the US President.
“Given their critical roles in driving policies that promote settler violence, weaken the Palestinian Authority, facilitate de facto and de jure annexation, and destabilize the West Bank, we urge you to sanction Finance Minister (Bezalel) Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir,” they wrote.
The letter was signed by a significant number of Democrats – 17 senators and 71 members of the House of Representatives – and was sent at the end of October, before the US election which Donald Trump won. It was made public on Thursday in order to pressure Biden to take action during his final months in office as frustration grows from within Biden’s own party about his administration’s seeming unwillingness to hold the Israeli government to account.
“We’ve not yet gotten a response from the White House, and we think the clock is ticking in the aftermath of the election,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, one of the lead lawmakers who signed the letter. “We do think that there’s a pretty short window, obviously, for the Biden administration to take this action.”
“We see President-elect Trump’s nominations, and we think it’s more important than ever that President Biden right now states that the United States is not going to be a rubber stamp to the Netanyahu government’s extreme actions on the West Bank,” he said.
So far, there has been no response from the White House or the Israeli Embassy regarding the letter.
The U.S. has long supported a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians and has urged Israel to refrain from expanding settlements in the West Bank.
Earlier this week, Smotrich stated that he hoped Israel would extend its sovereignty over the West Bank in 2025 and that he would work to gain U.S. support for the move through a future administration.
Smotrich, a hard-right politician who also holds authority over Israeli settlers, is a key figure in Netanyahu's coalition government.
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