Financial sanctions announced Thursday by President Joe Biden target, in an unprecedented manner, four Israeli settlers accused of
“threatening stability in the West Bank as well as prospects for peace and security”
.
These individuals, unfavorably known to the police and the Israeli internal security service (Shin Beth), are accused of violence perpetrated against Palestinians or Israeli activists from the peace camp.
The executive order signed by President Biden decrees the freezing of their assets in the United States, prohibits any financial transaction with them and prohibits them from staying on American territory.
This spectacular decision, although limited in scope, was warmly welcomed by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Most [Israeli] residents of the West Bank are law-abiding citizens
,” the prime minister's office commented.
The Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, a figure in the Jewish supremacist camp, was more virulent.
“President Biden is wrong about the citizens of the State of Israel.
Those who are attacked, those who are thrown stones at with the aim of injuring or killing them, are the heroic inhabitants of Judea and Samaria [the biblical name for the West Bank, Editor’s note]
,” he declared. , without dwelling on the heavy pedigree of the four ostracized colonists.
David Chai Chasdai, 29 years old
This resident of the Beit El settlement, near Ramallah, is accused by the US State Department of having organized
"a riot during which vehicles and buildings were set on fire"
, as well as of having
"attacked Palestinians”
, on February 26, 2023, in a locality located south of Nablus.
The Huwara punitive expedition, in which a Palestinian was killed and hundreds more injured, was instigated in response to the killing of two Jewish settlers by snipers.
A senior Israeli military official then called it a
“pogrom”
.
Arrested for his alleged involvement in these riots, David Chai Pasdai was placed in administrative detention on the orders of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who at the time accused him of preparing other attacks against Palestinians and against 'army.
The Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, denounced the use of such a measure against Israeli citizens.
The duration of his incarceration was reduced by a month, a few days later, by order of the courts.
Identified by the Israeli army as an element to be monitored, David Chai Pasdai has been targeted on several occasions by a ban on traveling to the West Bank, with the exception of the colony where he resides, as well as on leaving his home at night. fell and encountered a number of other settlers known for their violent activities.
He has also been convicted on at least three occasions for violating these prohibitions, carrying a bladed weapon, assault and transporting materials likely to be used in violent acts.
Yinon Levy, 31 years old
Accused of being
“involved in acts that create an atmosphere of fear in the West Bank
,” Yinon Levy is identified as one of the pillars of Meitarim Farm, a settlement outpost created in April 2021 in the southern hills of Hebron, whose occupants regularly carry out violent expeditions to oust the Bedouin communities established in this area.
“He leads a group of settlers who attacked Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, threatening them with further violence if they refused to leave their encampment.
They burned their fields and destroyed their property
,” the State Department said.
Shalom Zicherman, 33 years old
This settler residing in an outpost in the hills south of Hebron is currently under house arrest as part of legal proceedings initiated against him for facts dating back to June 10, 2021. He is said to have, on that day, threw stones against two NGO activists campaigning against occupation and colonization, who had come to provide support to Bedouin communities in the place called Massafer Yatta, harmed by a recent decision of the Supreme Court.
A video of the incident was widely shared on social networks.
Einan Tanjil, 21 years old
The State Department accuses him of having participated in
“attacks against Palestinian farmers and Israeli activists committed with stones and sticks, which caused them injuries”
.
The acts were allegedly committed on November 12, 2021 in the Palestinian village of Surif, southwest of Bethlehem, during the olive harvest.
Einan Tanjil, who was in a group of around twenty masked settlers, is accused of hitting Israeli activist Neta Ben-Porath in the legs and head.
Indicted in 2022 for assault and battery with aggravating circumstances, he must appear in court soon.