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Israel's far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, thanked Donald Trump on Tuesday for his “unwavering support” after the newly inaugurated US president lifted sanctions on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“Mr President, your unwavering and uncompromising support for the State of Israel is a testament to your deep connection to the Jewish people and our historical right to our land”, the minister wrote on X.
“These sanctions were a severe and blatant foreign intervention in Israel’s internal affairs and an unjustified violation of democratic principles and the mutual respect between friendly nations,” he added.
Trump, inaugurated for a second term on Monday, swiftly revoked his predecessor Joe Biden’s executive order from February 2024.
The order had paved the way for the designation of settlers and groups accused of perpetrating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
The US Treasury and State departments used it to designate several far-right individuals and groups, including an individual accused of leading a riot in the town of Huwara in which Palestinian homes were torched and a Palestinian civilian was killed.
Biden at the time described settler violence in the West Bank as reaching “intolerable levels”, saying it constitutes a “serious threat to the peace, security and stability.”
Violence has soared in the West Bank since war broke out in Gaza between Israel and Hamas after the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023, attack.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump, telling him in a video message the “best days of our alliance are yet to come”.
Israel’s far-right former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose party quit the ruling coalition in protest at the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, also welcomed Trump’s decision.
“This is the correction of a long-standing injustice,” he said, denouncing those “who confused friends with enemies” of Israel.
AFP
