WASHINGTON (CN) — The State Department on Thursday issued a second round of sanctions on Israeli settlers targeting Palestinians in the West Bank as Washington grows increasingly frustrated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The sanctions came as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States, called for Israel to hold new parliamentary elections to usher in a new government.
It’s the latest sign of building tension between the U.S. and Israel as the latter continues its war in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Nearly 1,200 people were killed in those attacks and Hamas took at least 240 hostages. Since then, Israel has launched a brutal invasion of Gaza, an operation that so far has killed more than 30,000 people.
The West Bank is the largest of the occupied Palestinian territories, home to roughly 3 million people. For years, far-right Israeli settlers have staged attacks on the Palestinians living there to seize land. Those attacks have increased since Oct. 7, contributing to instability in the region.
In February, President Joe Biden declared a national emergency around the situation in the West Bank, citing “high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction.” At the time, the State Department targeted four people with sanctions, building on visa restrictions issued in December.
Biden’s frustrations with Netanyahu have mounted in the past several weeks, with him saying last week that the two leaders need a “Come-to-Jesus” meeting. Netanyahu has resisted Washington’s pressure for a six-week cease-fire, insisted on going forth with a military operation in a refugee enclave in Rafah and stymied the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, requiring the U.S. to start airdrops and construct a pier to bring in aid from the sea.
Meanwhile, Schumer’s speech on the floor of the Senate highlighted what he called “the most pressing existential threats to Israel’s long-term peace and prosperity.” He said the four obstacles to the two-state solution are Netanyahu, Hamas and its supporters, “radical right-wing Israelis” and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Netanyahu has “lost his way” by prioritizing “his political survival” over the best interests of Israel, Schumer said, putting Israel on the path to become “a pariah” and will hurt Israel’s status on the world stage.
“If Israel maintains the status quo, and goes beyond that to tighten the control over Gaza and West Bank, as some in the current Netanyahu administration suggested, creating a de facto single state, what reasonable expectation can we have that Hamas and their allies lay down their arms?” Schumer said. “It would mean constant war.”
He called for an election “once the war starts to wind down” to usher in a government that can lead “a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel.”
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me that the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” he said.
Beyond Netanyahu himself, Schumer also individually criticized members of his cabinet.
“There's a nastiness to what the ministers believe, and how they use their positions of authority and influence and eagerness to inflame and provoke is profoundly irresponsible and self-destructive,” he said. “In order to achieve a two-state solution, the reality is that things must change.”
Thursday’s sanctions target three people and six entities “involved in undermining stability in the West Bank.”
Zvi Bar Yosef, Moshe Sharvit and Neriya Ben Pazi are the sanctioned individuals.
Bar Yosef’s Zvis Farm is sanctioned for being an outpost Bar Yosef is suspected of using to prevent local Palestinians from accessing their land. Sharvit’s Moshes Farm was sanctioned as an outpost he uses to perpetuate violence against Palestinians.
Ben Pazi was sanctioned for expelling Palestinian shepherds from hundreds of acres of land.
“There is no justification for extremist violence against civilians or forcing families from their homes, whatever their national origin, ethnicity, race, or religion,” the State Department said in a statement. “The United States is committed to enduring peace and prosperity for Palestinians and Israelis alike and will continue to use all available tools to promote accountability for those engaging in actions that threaten the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank.”
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