The governments of the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Norway officially announced Monday that they will impose sanctions on Israeli Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of incitement to violence against Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria.
The UK Foreign Office stated that the decision was made as part of a wider move to address what it described as “extremist settler violence” and the undermining of a future Palestinian state.
It’s unacceptable for any country to sanction Israel’s leaders and the time is now for Israel to respond to these ridiculous and biased agendas. Whether it’s through travel bans and asset freezes, or diplomatic protests to reciprocal measures, Israel must act. Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, Tzippi Hotevely, responded to the news, “Sanctions on democratically elected Israeli ministers are a moral failure that only helps Hamas, not peace,” she wrote on her X account. “Now is the time for moral clarity. Our allies must choose – to stand with Israel on the right side of history, or to send the wrong message to terrorists.”
A public PR campaign to combat this politically motivated nonsense would better position Israel into the age of information wars. It’s an urgent advancement that needs to happen.