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Foreign ministers

UK Sanctions Israeli Ministers Over Gaza Comments

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has sanctioned two hard-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, over their "horrendous extremist language" on Gaza. The UK has joined Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway in freezing the assets of the two ministers and imposing travel bans. The sanctions come after the ministers' comments, which included Ben-Gvir's statement that Gaza should be "entirely destroyed" and Smotrich's claim that the area would be "home to our people".

The move has sparked a diplomatic row with the White House, with the US State Department denouncing the sanctions as "extremely unhelpful" and saying they would not lead to a ceasefire in Gaza. The US also called on Western countries to focus on Hamas instead of Israeli settlers.

The sanctions mean that the ministers are both banned from entering Britain and that financial institutions based in the UK cannot deal with them. The UK believes extremist settlers have carried out almost 2,000 attacks on Palestinian civilians since January last year. British officials said they would encourage the Israeli government to disavow and condemn the extremist language used by the two ministers.

Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are powerful members of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition and ultra-nationalists who have long demanded the annexation of the West Bank. Smotrich has responsibility for Israel's civilian administrative control in the West Bank. He visited Washington for a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant in March, after years of being shunned by Trump's predecessor.

The sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are similar to those imposed on Russian figures linked to the war in Ukraine. A spokesman for the Israeli government said the move was "outrageous" and called for a special government meeting to decide on the response.

Key Takeaways:

  • The UK has joined Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway in sanctioning two hard-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, over their comments on Gaza.
  • The sanctions include freezing the assets of the two ministers and imposing travel bans.
  • The US State Department has denounced the sanctions as "extremely unhelpful" and called on Western countries to focus on Hamas instead of Israeli settlers.
  • The UK believes extremist settlers have carried out almost 2,000 attacks on Palestinian civilians since January last year.
  • Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are powerful members of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition and ultra-nationalists who have long demanded the annexation of the West Bank.
  • The sanctions are similar to those imposed on Russian figures linked to the war in Ukraine.
  • The Israeli government has called for a special government meeting to decide on the response to the sanctions.

Statistics:

  • Almost 2,000 attacks on Palestinian civilians have been carried out by extremist settlers since January last year.
  • The sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are similar to those imposed on Russian figures linked to the war in Ukraine.
  • The US has called on Western countries to focus on Hamas instead of Israeli settlers.

Sources:

  • The Telegraph: "UK sanctions Israeli ministers over Gaza comments"
  • The Guardian: "US denounces UK sanctions on Israeli ministers as 'extremely unhelpful'"
  • The Times of Israel: "Israel summons UK ambassador over 'scandalous' sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir"
  • Reuters: "UK, Canada and Australia impose sanctions on Israeli ministers"

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