Western sanctions target Israeli settlers and far-right ministers, but critics say measures don't address state-level complicity
Six Western nations announced coordinated sanctions on June 9, 2026, targeting Israeli settlers and far-right ministers including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over settler violence in Palestinian territories. The sanctions follow a July 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion stating that states must not recognize or assist Israel's illegal occupation. Human rights groups and Palestinian campaigners argue the measures are insufficient and deflect from systemic state responsibility, calling for sanctions against the Israeli government itself rather than individual actors.
On June 9, 2026, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, and Norway announced coordinated sanctions targeting networks involved in settler violence in Palestinian territories. The UK sanctioned six entities and one individual, while France banned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and 21 settlers from entry. Critics including Amnesty International and Christian Aid argue these measures are inadequate, describing them as "derisory" and "too little, too late" given the scale of settlement expansion. Palestinian leaders and human rights experts contend that targeting individual settlers and far-right ministers obscures the Israeli government's central role in planning and funding settlement expansion. They point out that the settler population has grown from approximately 250,000 at the time of the 1993 Oslo Accords to over 700,000 today, while the EU has failed to implement binding economic embargoes on settlement-produced goods despite a July 2024 ICJ advisory opinion on the illegality of the occupation.
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- Al JazeeraLeft
Sanctions on settlers not enough: Target Israeli gov’t, say campaigners
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