U.S. sanctions fundraisers for extremist West Bank settlers who commit violence against Palestinians
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday imposed sanctions on two entities accused of fundraising for extremist Israel settlers, as well as the founder of an organization whose members regularly assault Palestinians.
The Treasury Department announcement comes as the West Bank has seen some of the worst violence perpetrated by extremist settlers against Palestinians since the war began in the Gaza Strip.
There is also friction between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose far-right government has reacted angrily to previous sanctions imposed against West Bank settlers.
Included in Friday’s sanctions are two entities — Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich — accused of raising funds for sanctioned settlers Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai. Both men were previously sanctioned by the Biden administration for violently attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.
Religious Zionists, most believing in a divine right to govern, now have outsize influence in Israel. The war in the Gaza Strip is energizing their settlement push.
The penalties aim to block them from using the U.S. financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them.
The fundraising campaigns established by Mount Hebron Fund for Levi and by Shlom Asiraich for Chasdai generated the equivalent of $140,000 and $31,000, respectively, according to the U.S. Treasury.
Mount Hebron Fund is linked to the regional council in the area, a body that receives state money. Friday’s order stopped short of sanctioning the council itself.
Shlom Asiraich raises money for imprisoned Jewish extremists.
Rights groups say the expansion of illegal settler outposts in the West Bank is enthusiastically supported by the regional councils and nudged along by Israel’s national government — the most far-right in the country’s history.
The Biden order also skirted sanctioning crowdfunding websites on which funds were raised: GiveChak and New York-based Charidy.
The United States vetoes the latest Palestinian bid for full membership in the United Nations.
Both online fundraisers have been taken down. But at least one fundraiser linked to a settler who was previously sanctioned by the Biden administration, Moshe Sharvit, remains online. As of Friday, the page on GiveChak had raised the equivalent of more than $879,000.
Additionally, the State Department is sanctioning Ben-Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of Lehava, an organization whose members have assaulted Palestinian civilians.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said the organizations “undermine the peace, security and stability of the West Bank. We will continue to use our tools to hold those responsible accountable.”
In February, Biden issued an executive order that targets Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been accused of attacking Palestinians and Israeli peace activists in the occupied territory.
Hussein and Frankel write for the Associated Press.
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