Is Trump’s lifting of sanctions against Israeli settlers a green light for more violence?

The Trump administration last week officially removed sanctions on more than 30 illegal Israeli settlers and groups in the occupied West Bank, reversing a Biden-era policy in an executive order by the new president.

The move came after a ceasefire and prisoner swap deal in Gaza, as well as reports that Trump pressured the Israeli government to end its 15-month genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.

It also followed a surge in attacks by illegal Israel settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank, raising fears of further escalation.

What were the sanctions?

The Biden administration had imposed sanctions under Executive Order 14115, signed 1 February 2024.

The measure, targeting individuals and entities involved in “extremist settler violence, forced displacement, and property destruction” in the occupied West Bank, blocked their access to assets in the US and the country’s financial system.

Key targets included Amana, an organisation linked to settler violence, and individuals like David Chai Chasdai, a 29-year-old Israeli settler with a history of violence against Palestinians.

Chasdai was accused of initiating and leading a deadly riot in the West Bank town of Huwara, where he and fellow illegal settlers set vehicles and buildings on fire, causing property damage, and assaulted Palestinian civilians. The attack has been described as a “pogrom”.

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Despite calls for broader sanctions, the Biden administration stopped short of sanctioning the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion, which allegedly abused Palestinian civilians and caused the 2022 death of 80-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Assad.

Why were they imposed?

The sanctions were partly in response to mounting violence across the occupied West Bank as Israel waged an onslaught in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since 7 October 2023.

More than 880 Palestinians have been killed and 6,700 injured by Israeli occupation forces since the outbreak of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Settlement watchdog group Peace Now indicates that over half a million illegal Israeli settlers reside across 147 West Bank settlements and 224 outposts. The International Court of Justice, in July 2024, declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements.

Amid rising tensions, the Biden administration, which had resisted calls from public figures and members of Congress to halt arms shipments to Israel despite reports of widespread violations of international and US law, imposed sanctions on Israeli settlers to curb violence in the West Bank.

How did Israelis and Palestinians react?

The Israeli government, dominated by pro-settlement hardliners like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, welcomed Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Israeli settlers, calling it a “just” course correction from the Biden administration’s policy.

The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, condemned the move.

“This decision encourages settlers to commit more crimes,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA), said in a statement.

During his first term in office, which ended in 2021, Trump reshaped US policy to align with many of Tel Aviv’s long-held positions.

He moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem, recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, and reversed a long-standing US policy on illegal settlements, rejecting a 1978 State Department legal opinion that deemed the settlements “inconsistent with international law.”

In February 2024, the Biden administration reversed course, reaffirming that Israel’s Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank violate international law.

Trump did not indicate whether he would double down on the change, but made controversial remarks about Gaza, proposing a plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan; a plan both nations strongly reject.

By lifting sanctions, Trump signals a return to the staunchly pro-Israel policies of his first term, potentially emboldening settler violence and further diminishing prospects for Palestinian statehood.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.