In July, the United States intensified its sanctions against Israeli settlers, expanding its list to include additional individuals and organizations. The US cautioned Israeli banks to scrutinize transactions associated with all the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria.
The latest sanctions target the group Lehava, dedicated to preventing mixed marriages of Jews and Gentiles, and two founding members of Tsav 9, an organization that aims to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza, where Hamas appropriates it. The new measures also focus on unauthorized settlement outposts.
“The sanctions on the leaders of Tsav 9 who protest against sending aid to Hamas terrorists in Gaza are the most prominent example of stupidity and a blatant and illegitimate interference in our democracy,” says MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism), adding, “It is the right of every Israeli citizen, certainly while our relatives are being kept as hostages in Gaza, to protest against the introduction of aid to Gaza. The debate for or against the introduction of aid is legitimate, but discouraging those who take a side in the debate by imposing on them economic sanctions is not democratic and we must not keep silent about it.”
MK Sukkot this week submitted a bill that would attempt to solve the plight of dozens of Israelis who have been sanctioned by foreign countries due to their involvement in right-wing activities. According to his bill, Israelis whose bank accounts have been blocked due to sanctions will be entitled to banking services directly from the Bank of Israel.
The bill’s explanatory notes say, “Recently, foreign countries have begun to impose sanctions against Israeli citizens and social organizations in the context of the Jewish-Arab conflict. This peaked with the attempt to impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF – the Netzah Yehuda Battalion.”
Earlier this week, Hana Levi Julian reported in The Jewish Press that US officials are mulling the option of imposing sanctions against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit). Both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir live in Judea and Samaria and support the right of Jews to live in their Biblical homeland (Report: Biden Administration Mulls Sanctions Against Israeli Ministers Ben-Gvir, Smotrich).
There’s a fundamental problem with MK Sukkot’s bill: according to the Bank of Israel Law, only the following entities can open an account with the Bank of Israel:
- The Government.
- A “financial entity,” as defined in the Bank of Israel Law, including a banking corporation.
- Central Banks, Monetary Authorities, and Foreign Banks, as decided by the Governor and with the approval of the Monetary Committee.
Customers and private entities in the State of Israel cannot maintain a bank account with the Bank of Israel.
In other words, to enable his bill to remedy the sanctions against Israelis who find themselves one morning without a checking account or a credit card, Sukkot would first have to amend the Bank of Israel Law.
Good luck with that one. I can hear the clippity clops of the Supreme Court’s hooves on the cobblestones of justice even as I’m writing this.
I left an inquiry on MK Sukkot’s WhatsApp account on Friday, and I promise to update this story as soon as he gets back to me.
