Canada imposes sanctions on Israel settlers for ‘extremist violence’ in West Bank

Canada today announced new sanctions targeting Israeli settlers for “extremist violence” against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank.

This follows the first-ever sanctions against settlers by Canada last month, coordinated with Britain, France, the European Union and the United States.

The latest round of sanctions includes seven Israeli extremists and five organisations accused of facilitating, supporting, or financially contributing to acts of violence by Israeli extremist settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property.

Foreign Minister, Melanie Joly, said: “We remain deeply concerned by extremist settler violence in the West Bank and condemn such acts, not only for the significant impact they have on Palestinian lives, but also for the corrosive impact they have on prospects for lasting peace.”

“We call on authorities to ensure the protection of civilians and hold perpetrators of such violence accountable.”

Attacks by extremist Israeli settlers – a long-standing source of tension and conflict in the region – undermine the human rights of Palestinians, prospects for a two-state solution and pose significant risks to regional security.

According to the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the seven Israeli extremists include Ben Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of the right-wing group Lehava, Elisha Yered, who has justified killing Palestinians on religious grounds, and Shalom Zicherman, who the US State Department this year said had assaulted Israeli activists and their vehicles in the West Bank.

Other radical settler activists listed are Daniella Weiss, who has called for Palestinians to be resettled out of Gaza to make way for Jewish-only settlement, Einan Ben-Nir, Amram Tanjil, Ely Federman and Meir Mordechai Ettinger. The five entities on which the sanctions were also imposed were named as Amana, Hilltop Youth, Lehava, Moshe’s Farm and Zvi’s Farm.

Earlier this year, the UK imposed sanctions on four Israeli nationals saying they were extremist settlers who had violently attacked Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The US has also taken measures against settlers but questions have been asked over the effectiveness after Washington urged banks not to freeze accounts of the sanctioned settlers.

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