Takeaways from AP’s report on sanctioned settlers in the West Bank

SOUTH HEBRON HILLS, West Bank (news agencies) — More than a dozen Israeli settlers — as well as two affiliated farms and four groups — have been targeted by international sanctions over accusations of attacks and harassment against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The measures are meant as a deterrent. They expose people to asset freezes and travel and visa bans.

But the measures have had minimal impact, instead emboldening settlers as attacks and land grabbling escalate. Communities donated money and held fundraisers, making tens of thousands of dollars for some sanctioned settlers. And at least one far-right government official, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, vowed to intervene of sanctioned settler’s behalf.

Three sanctioned settlers — Yinon Levi; his father-in-law, Noam Federman; and Elisha Yered — told media the measures against them were, at most, an annoyance.

Meanwhile, Palestinians in the West Bank say sanctions are mostly futile with ongoing verbal and physical harassment by settlers.

Here’s what to know from news agencies’s report.

Settlement expansion has been ongoing since Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.

Some 500,000 Israelis have settled there; the international community largely considers their presence illegal. Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current coalition — the most right-wing in Israeli history, with settlers themselves in key positions — expansion has been turbocharged.

Palestinians say Israeli outposts are expanding and shrinking their access to land, and settler violence against them has soared since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war with Israel.

Land seized through illegal outposts has more than doubled since then, settlement watchdog Kerem Navot says.

U.S. officials have repeatedly raised concerns about surging settler violence. Israel has said it’s calling for settlers to stand down and investigating violent incidents. But rights groups accuse the government and army of complicity with the settlers.

In March, even the Israeli army complained about the extent to which the government intervenes on behalf of settlers. An internal document, seen by news agencies and published by The New York Times, said the army is routinely denied authorization to act against illegal building by Israelis and regularly authorized to act against Palestinians.

The sanctions prohibit financial institutions and residents in the issuing country from providing funds to a person or entity. Even though Israeli banks aren’t obliged to freeze accounts, many do so to maintain relations with banks — particularly for U.S. sanctions — and avoid risk.

But for sanctioned settlers, the implications didn’t last long.

When settler Yinon Levi was sanctioned by the U.S. in February, he said his Israeli bank froze his accounts and within days, he couldn’t pay his mortgage or children’s school and activities fees. But his community raised thousands of dollars for him. Two months post-sanctions, he was granted access to his money.

Levi said he founded Meitarim Farm in 2021 to wanted to protect the area from being overtaken by Palestinians. Since then, activists say, more than 300 people from four nearby hamlets have been pushed off their land.