The directive comes as the Biden administration aims to show that it’s supporting Palestinian civilians in need, even as it staunchly defends Israel’s retaliation against Hamas, and while members of the president’s party seek conditions on military aid to Washington’s ally.
The targets for reprimands are broadly defined in the memo. They include people or entities that “have directly or indirectly engaged in actions or policies that threaten the security or stability of the West Bank,” take “actions that intimidate civilians in the West Bank with the purpose or effect of forcing displacement actions in the West Bank,” or make moves “that constitute human rights abuses or violations and actions that significantly obstruct, disrupt or prevent efforts to achieve a two-state solution.”
The memo notes that Biden sees the settler-violence issue as a “serious threat” to peace among Israelis and Palestinians and destabilizing throughout the Middle East.
The decision to issue the directive came after intense debate on the topic, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy Jon Finer offering their direct input during a dedicated internal process, the official said.
POLITICO has not seen the memo, and the official was granted anonymity to read from a sensitive internal document. The White House declined to comment.
Israeli settlers have been moving into the West Bank for years, and incidents of violence were already growing after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power nearly a year ago. But the intensity of the long-running issue has grown since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.
Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, reports that 197 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by settlers or Israeli forces since Oct. 7. The United Nations reports that, in the same time frame, at least 121 Palestinian households — about 1,150 people, including 452 children — have been displaced by settler violence and access restrictions.
Daily incidents of settler violence rose from three a day earlier this year to seven since the attacks, per the United Nations. About 11 Palestinian communities have been completely abandoned in 2023 alone, according to the West Bank Protection Consortium, six of them since Hamas’ assault.
Biden has often condemned the rise in violence. “I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,” he said in October, equating the attacks to “pouring gasoline on fire.”
“They’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled to be, and it has to stop. They have to be held accountable,” Biden added.
On Friday, Blinken urged the Israeli government to confront “rising levels of settler extremist violence” during a call with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz.
The president initially stood firmly behind Israel, saying it needed to strike back at the militant group in Gaza. Later, the administration faced pressure to alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis, eventually working with regional partners to get aid into Gaza for its 2.3 million residents starved of food, water, fuel and medical attention.
That was too little too late for some Biden voters who say they won’t pull the lever for him in 2024 over this Israel-Hamas policy.
Pressure from within Biden’s party is also mounting in Congress. Two Democrats on Thursday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), sent a letter urging him to do more to curb settler violence.
Progressives want the administration to call for a cease-fire in the war that has killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, according to Hamas-led Gaza health authorities. Mainstream Democrats in the Senate and House are quietly discussing how to impose conditions on future military aid to Israel.
On Saturday evening, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who this week held a lunch for Senate Democrats to discuss the war, said he supported certain conditions like Israel halting settler violence and “an end to the indiscriminate bombing.”
Research_Matters on November 19th, 2023 at 21:46 UTC »
You can call this toothless as much as you want, the point is that this is an unprecedented escalation of consequences on settlements by an American president. This is less a message to the settlers than it is is to the Israeli government. It’s overdue and necessary. The fact is that a two state solution is the ONLY solution that has any hopes of long term success for decreased violence and death. It’s high time the US exert the influence due to it given its continuous support for Israel.
The_Milkman on November 19th, 2023 at 20:06 UTC »
Israeli settlements are one of the biggest obstacles to peace in this conflict. Visa bans are going to do nothing to solve that.
CortezsCoffers on November 19th, 2023 at 18:36 UTC »
SS: In an unprecedented move, the Biden aministration has expressed an intent to sanction individual Israeli settlers who
This comes amidst rising settler violence against Palestinians ever since Hamas's attack on October 7th, and as the US attempts to straddle the line between supporting Israel's war against Hamas on the one hand, and preventing any escalation of the conflict that could have destabilizing effects on the region.