The EU will sanction several Israeli settlers who committed acts of violence against Palestinians, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas announced on Monday.
The agreement also included sanctioning leading Hamas figures.
“It was high time we moved from deadlock to delivery,” Kallas said. “Extremisms and violence carry consequences.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar decried the move, saying the EU was “imposing sanctions on Israeli citizens and bodies because of their political views and without any basis.”
“Equally outrageous is the unacceptable comparison the European Union has chosen to make between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists. This is a completely distorted moral equivalence.”
Last week, EU Ambassador to Israel, Michael Mann, confirmed the EU was moving toward sanctioning violent settlers, noting that recent political changes in Hungary could lead to actions against Israel.
“For a long time, we had plans in Brussels to impose additional sanctions on extreme settlers in the West Bank. This was blocked by one country’s vote.”
“I’m not sure I can confidently say that this will change now, but it definitely seems like this is the direction,” Mann said during the conference.
Recently, the Palestinian Authority announced that the EU would launch a plan to support Palestinian victims of settler violence in the West Bank.
“In coordination with the government, the European Union will launch a program to support victims of settler terrorism,” Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa announced in a statement.
A source in the office of the EU representative in the Palestinian territories told Agence France-Presse that the EU would support civil society organizations with protective equipment, “such as fences for Palestinian communities facing attacks from settlers,” and a protective presence.
