Earlier this month, the United States announced sanctions against four Israeli settlers for committing acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. On February 12, 2024, the United Kingdom followed suit by imposing sanctions on four extremist settlers who committed human rights violations in the West Bank. The next day, France banned 28 Israeli settlers from entering the country, accusing them of attacking Palestinian citizens in the West Bank. The European Union also discussed imposing a package of sanctions against settlers who commit crimes against Palestinians, but no collective decision was made due to opposition from one member state. This prompted Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares to declare that his country would unilaterally impose sanctions on settlers who commit violence in the West Bank.
Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, emphasized that internal disagreements do not diminish the European stance against the aggression faced by the Palestinian people. Borrell even went further, criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not listening to anyone.
In reality, the decision by one or more countries to impose sanctions on a few settlers might seem like a small, insignificant step, given that these individuals represent a tiny fraction of over 700,000 settlers. However, this step, despite its modest size, is extremely significant. It signals that the world is becoming increasingly intolerant of settler violence, viewing it as a threat to security and stability in the region. After the ongoing genocide in Gaza, attention is shifting to the crimes of the occupation and settlers in the West Bank. This step also indicates that a rolling process of delegitimizing settlement activity has begun, starting with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which clearly distinguishes between the territories occupied since 1967 and Israel within the Green Line. What appears today as limited sanctions could evolve into comprehensive sanctions that target not only some criminal settlers but also the entire settlement enterprise and all its leaders.
The painful new reality in Israel is that the settler government is forced to implement U.S. sanctions. Even Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key representative of the settlers and religious Zionism, could not prevent Israeli banks from closing the accounts of settlers named by Washington. Non-compliance would mean the collapse of Israel’s economic system, which is entirely dependent on the United States. Smotrich had no choice but to comply with the sanctions and enforce the portion related to the Israeli banking system, over which he presides, a unique and unprecedented situation in Israel.
Israeli society is privileged and enjoys special treatment in the Western world, which views Israel as an integral part of it. When the United States begins to punish a segment of this society, followed by European countries or even a majority of them, it means a lot to Israelis. They are accustomed to preferential treatment that overlooks their crimes and violations. Now, this is no longer acceptable, and they must pay a price, even if that price is not comparable to what the victims of these crimes endure.
The war in Gaza has unmasked the ugly face of the Israeli occupation and the myth of a state that is supposedly a beacon of democracy and values. The false narrative perpetuated by Israel—that its military is the most moral army in the world—has been shattered. Israel has been exposed as a racist state that commits war crimes amounting to genocide and sponsors criminal gangs that oppress the indigenous Palestinian population. Its occupying army is blatantly fascist, reveling in killing and destruction and boasting about it. Yes, this is Israel, a reality the Western world had not known before.
The immense moral damage inflicted on Israel by its barbaric, bloody war in Gaza will haunt it for decades. No person with a shred of humanity or a rational mind can tolerate what Israel is doing. The rosy image painted by the extensive and far-reaching Zionist propaganda machine in every corner of the West has been irreversibly shattered. The demonstrations that sweep through the streets of the United States and Western Europe, and indeed around the world, are a clear rejection of the preferential treatment Israel has enjoyed despite its crimes, which have been covered up and tolerated. These protests are a slap in the face to all the hypocrites who know what is happening and cover it up for unethical reasons, such as viewing Israel as an advanced colonial outpost for the West in the Middle East, as well as to those who do not know and are deceived by the Zionist lies that exploit the crimes committed against Jews in Europe, for which the Palestinian people have paid the price.
Today, it is clear that Western countries, led by the United States, can no longer bear the consequences of their lies about defending human rights, democracy, and the so-called Western values. These values are being grossly violated by their ally, Israel, and their people now see the double standards and hypocrisy with their own eyes. Even progressive Jews have become part of the widespread protest movement that strongly condemns the absence of conscience, justice, and human rights principles. The International Court of Justice is now a witness to these times, regardless of its upcoming decision on the genocide being carried out by Israel against the Palestinians. Israeli military and political leaders will be pursued for their crimes, as will the settler gangs. The Israeli identity will become a curse for its holder, who will be seen as a citizen of a rogue state and suspected of committing one of the crimes prohibited by international law.
Author: Ashraf Ajrami