Will the US Sanction this Leftwing Israeli Group Too?

Some members of the left-wing Kaplan Force, a movement that has been trying to bring down the Netanyahu government since its current inception are, perhaps, unlikely participants in protests organized by Tsav 9. Tsav 9, whose motto is: “no humanitarian aid until the last of the hostages returns home,” was sanctioned by the United States State Department on 14 June as a “violent extremist group.”

Today, Maariv published a video recorded in February that documents two Kaplan Force members explaining their participation in blocking humanitarian aid trucks headed to Gaza. Their faces are clearly visible and one is wearing a Kaplan Force shirt on — will the State Department add the Kaplan Force to its list of extremist groups, even though they are working to bring down Bibi, something the USA appears to want more than Israel winning the war against Hamas?

The transcript of the video is:

My name is Boaz Sapir of Kibbutz [not clear]. I am here to convey a clear message, without idle chatter, that until the last of the hostages, the last of the hostages, including Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin who were forgotten during Operation Protection Edge [2014] by then Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz, and two civilians, Avera Mangistu and Hisham al-Sayed [mentally challenged Israelis who wandered into Gaza on foot and have not been seen since]. That’s it. The only message is that there is no right wing and no left wing and that all the hostages return, alive.

I am Gilad Shalit from Kibbutz Sde Boker. Together with Boaz, we are fighting for the return of the hostages, of course, from the period of Gilad Shalit [not the speaker, the hostage released in exchange for 1027 terrorists in Israeli prisons] and of course we took part in the attempts to return Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul. I have come to convey the message that the hostages belong to all of Am Yisrael [the People of Israel]. All of Am Yisrael wants to bring back the hostages. It appears that the government has forgotten that for now. That cannot be. We will not give any aid to Hamas as long as they do not return the hostages. That’s the message I want to get across.

Tsav 9, with about 400 members, blocks trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, claiming that the hostages are being starved while Hamas takes control of 70% of the aid entering the Strip, selling to civilians at exorbitant prices what should be free to all. They told Maariv that Kaplan Force members have sometimes been blocking trucks together with them for some months.

In response to the sanctions, Tsav 9 said that Israel should not be forced to feed her enemies beyond the minimum required by law. The United States never provided aid to her enemies during wartime, they added.