An Israeli soldier points his weapon during a military raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, Tuesday, June 10, 2025.聽
JERUSALEM 鈥 Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway said Tuesday they have imposed sanctions on two far-right Israeli government ministers for allegedly 鈥渋nciting extremist violence鈥 against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The decision by Western governments friendly to Israel was a sharp rebuke of Israel鈥檚 settlement policies in the West Bank and of settler violence, which has spiked since Hamas鈥 Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, key partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 coalition, are champions of Israeli settlement who support continuing the war in Gaza, facilitating what they call the voluntary emigration of its Palestinian population and the rebuilding of Jewish settlements there.
They could now face asset freezes and travel bans.
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In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the five countries said Ben-Gvir and Smotrich 鈥渉ave incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous.鈥
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the two men 鈥渉ave been inciting violence against Palestinian people for months and months and months" and 鈥渆ncouraging egregious abuses of human rights.鈥
鈥淭hese measures are directed at individuals who directly contribute to extremist settler violence,鈥 said Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand. 鈥淭he measures are not directed against the state of Israel itself.鈥
New Zealand鈥檚 Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Wednesday that Smotrich and Ben-Gvir 鈥渉ave severely and deliberately undermined鈥 prospects for peace and security while 鈥渋nciting violence and forced displacement.鈥
鈥淥ur action today is not against the Israeli people, who suffered immeasurably on October 7 and who have continued to suffer through Hamas鈥 ongoing refusal to release all hostages,鈥 Peters said in a statement. 鈥淣or is it designed to sanction the wider Israeli government.鈥
Smotrich wrote on social media that he learned of the sanctions while he was inaugurating a new West Bank settlement. 鈥淲e are determined to continue building,鈥 he said.
Ben-Gvir, also writing on social media, said 鈥渨e overcame Pharoah, we鈥檒l overcome Starmer鈥檚 Wall,鈥 referring to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Israel鈥檚 government condemned the announcement, which came as traditional allies of Israel escalate denouncements of Israel's actions in Gaza, from the high civilian death toll to a monthslong blockade that led to famine warnings.
Israel鈥檚 Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions decision 鈥渙utrageous.鈥 He said he had discussed it with Netanyahu and they would meet next week to discuss Israel's response.
He said that the move threatened to harden Hamas' stance in ongoing negotiations to end the war in Gaza and to cut short Israel's operation in Gaza before it achieves its goals.
Benny Gantz, a centrist Israeli lawmaker and political rival to Netanyahu, wrote that he 鈥渧ehemently鈥 disagreed with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, but said the move was a 鈥減rofound moral mistake and sends a dangerous message to terrorists around the world.鈥
Netanyahu is the target of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court last year over alleged war crimes in Gaza, part of a global wave of outrage at Israel鈥檚 conduct during its 20-month war against Hamas. Netanyahu has denied the allegations and accused the court of being biased against Israel.
The Biden administration took the rare step of sanctioning radical Israeli settlers implicated in violence in the occupied West Bank 鈥 sanctions that were lifted by President Donald Trump.
Eitay Mack, an Israeli human rights lawyer who spent years campaigning for the sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir 鈥 along with violent West Bank settlers 鈥 described Tuesday's move as 鈥渉istoric.鈥
鈥淚t means the wall of immunity that Israeli politicians had has been broken,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievable that it took so long for Western governments to sanction Israeli politicians, and the fact that it鈥檚 being done while Trump is president is quite amazing.鈥
Mack added: 鈥淚t is a message to Netanyahu himself that he could be next.鈥
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state.
Successive Israeli governments have promoted settlement growth and construction stretching back decades. It has exploded under Netanyahu鈥檚 far-right coalition, which has settlers in key Cabinet posts.
There are now well over 100 settlements across the West Bank that house more than 500,000 settlers. The settlers have Israeli citizenship, while the territory鈥檚 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers.
Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal, and Palestinians see them as the greatest obstacle to an eventual two-state solution, which is still seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict.
Lawless reported from London. Associated Press writer Rob Gillies contributed from Toronto.
Mourners grieved their lost loved ones in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, after Israeli airstrikes on tents sheltering the displaced killed 19 people. The strikes occurred late Monday early Tuesday, according to the Nasser Hospital. (AP video by Mohammad Jahjouh)
