Five countries sanction Israeli ministers over Palestinian human rights

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich won’t be exploring London anytime soon. The United Kingdom sanctioned the two firebrands and imposed travel bans on them. The U.K. is not alone in acting against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich; Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway have joined in.

The foreign ministers of all five countries issued a joint statement on their decision to sanction the ministers and implement “other measures targeting” them.

“Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous,” the statement read. 

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The foreign ministers say that their actions against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich stem from issues in the West Bank, but that their measures “cannot be seen in isolation from the catastrophe in Gaza.”

Ben-Gvir responded in a post on X, saying, “While the European colonial countries fantasize that we Jews are still their subjects, the streets of their famous cities are being taken over by radical Islam. But their campaign of appeasement for the Hamas terrorists will not save them. When they finally wake up, it will be too late!”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar slammed the move, calling it “outrageous.”

“We were informed about the U.K. decision to include two of our ministers on the British Sanctions list. It is outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to these kinds of measures,” Sa’ar said on Tuesday. “I discussed it earlier today with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and we will hold a special government meeting early next week to decide on our response to this unacceptable decision.”

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Sa’ar also put out a statement on X criticizing the five nations, particularly the U.K.

“The British Mandate for the land of Israel ended in May 1948. It will never return,” Sa’ar wrote. “The actions and decisions against Israel also contribute to hardening Hamas’ stance in the negotiations for the hostage deal – and distance it and the ceasefire.”

The countries that signed the joint statement have been vocal critics of Israel during its war against Hamas.

In May, Canada, the U.K. and France said in a statement that they “strongly oppose the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.” They also said that Israel allowing only “a basic quantity of food into Gaza” was “wholly inadequate.” 

“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response,” the statement from May read.

In a joint statement on the Australia-New Zealand Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations (ANZMIN), the countries called for a ceasefire in Gaza and condemned Israel’s “treatment of U.N. agencies.” Australia and New Zealand defended the controversial United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the statement, saying that “no organization can replace or substitute” its ability to serve the Palestinian population. 

The U.S. stopped funding UNRWA under former President Joe Biden. Under President Donald Trump, the Department of Justice ruled that the agency was no longer immune to lawsuits – a decision that allowed the families of more than 100 victims of the Oct. 7 attacks to sue the agency, demanding $1 billion in damages.