Israeli extremist minister thanks Trump for revoking US sanctions on terrorist settlers

AFP , Tuesday 21 Jan 2025

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich thanked Donald Trump on Tuesday for his "unwavering support" after the newly inaugurated US president lifted sanctions on Israeli terrorist settlers attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Settlers
Israeli settlers are seen at the outpost of Eviatar near the northern West Bank town of Nablus. AP

 

"Mr. President, your unwavering and uncompromising support for the State of Israel is a testament to your deep connection to the Jewish people and our historical right to our land," the minister wrote on X.

"These sanctions were a severe and blatant foreign intervention in Israel's internal affairs and an unjustified violation of democratic principles and the mutual respect between friendly nations," he added.

Trump, inaugurated for a second term on Monday, swiftly revoked his predecessor Joe Biden's executive order from February 2024.

The order had paved the way for the designation of settlers and groups perpetrating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

The US Treasury and State departments used it to designate several extremist individuals and groups, including an individual accused of leading a riot in the town of Huwara in which Palestinian homes were torched and Palestinian civilians killed.

Biden at the time described settler violence in the West Bank as reaching "intolerable levels", saying it constitutes a "serious threat to the peace, security and stability."

Violence has soared in the West Bank since Israel's war broke out in Gaza.

Israel's far-right former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose party quit the ruling coalition in protest at the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, also welcomed Trump's decision.

 

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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