The U.S. State Department announced new sanctions on Wednesday on an Israeli nonprofit and civilian security coordinator that it alleges are engaged in “extremist settler violence” in Judea and Samaria.
“Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel’s security, and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region,” Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman, stated.
“As part of the United States’ efforts to address the extreme levels of instability and violence against civilians in the West Bank, we are taking additional actions today against those who engage in or provide material support for violent activities there,” he said.
The new measures include sanctions against the Hashomer Yosh organization, which allegedly supports the already sanctioned Meitarim Farm as well as other individuals, and prevented 250 Palestinians from returning to their village in January.
The department also placed sanctions on Yitzhak Levi Filant, the civilian ‘security coordinator of the Yitzhar settlement in Samaria.
“Israel views with utmost severity the imposition of sanctions on citizens of Israel,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated on Wednesday. “The issue is in a pointed discussion with the United States.”
The U.S. announcement describes Filant as “akin to a security or law enforcement officer,” but says he has also “engaged in malign activities outside the scope of his authority.”
“In February 2024, he led a group of armed settlers to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them from their lands,” Miller said.
Wednesday’s sanctions are the latest actions taken under U.S. President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14115, which declared that “extremist settler violence” had reached “intolerable levels.” It further stated that such violence undermines “the foreign-policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution.”
Including Filant and Hashomer Yosh, the Biden administration has now sanctioned 23 Israeli organizations and individuals.
Lions’ Den, a Nablus-based Palestinian terrorist organization, is the only Palestinian entity that has been sanctioned under the order.