The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on four Israeli men it accused of being involved in settler violence in the West Bank, signalling growing US displeasure with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Thursday that aims to punish ill-behaved Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians envisage a future state.
The order establishes a system for imposing financial sanctions and visa restrictions against individuals who attack or intimidate Palestinians or seize their property, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
"Today's actions seek to promote peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike," he said.
The State Department sanctions, freezing the US assets of the four men - David Chai Chasdai, Einan Tanjil, Shalom Zicherman and Shalom Zicherman - and generally barring Americans from dealing with them, are the latest since Palestinian Hamas militants on October 7 carried out an attack on Israel and Israel responded with an assault on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
In December, the United States began imposing visa bans on people involved in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
"Israel must do more to stop violence against civilians in the West Bank and hold accountable those responsible for it," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a separate statement.
"The United States will continue to take actions to advance the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution, and is committed to the safety, security, and dignity of Israelis and Palestinians alike."
Biden and other senior US officials have warned repeatedly that Israel must act to stop violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Biden has raised the issue directly with Netanyahu, said one senior official, as Biden seeks a path to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians once the Gaza conflict ends.
Netanyahu, who heads a religious-rightist coalition, has resisted US entreaties to develop a plan for post-conflict Gaza and to embrace a peace deal that envisages Israeli and Palestinian states side by side.
His office on Thursday responded to the US measures by saying they were unnecessary.
"Israel takes action against all law-breakers everywhere, and therefore there is no need for unusual measures on the issue," it said in a statement.
Australian Associated Press
