Sanctions

Israeli settlers, including one wearing a Hashomer Yosh T-shirt, block a main road around the Palestinian city of Nablus, occupied West Bank, April 10, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

What is Hashomer Yosh, the latest settler group hit with U.S. sanctions?

The government-backed organization, which brings volunteers to Israeli farming outposts, is a major driver of violent land theft in the West Bank.

By Georgia Gee August 30, 2024

Israeli settlers attempt to establish a new outpost in response to the killing of two settlers the night before, near the illegal settlement of Itamar, occupied West Bank, October 2, 2015. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills)

The first step toward disintegrating Israel’s settler machine

Despite their narrow focus, recent international sanctions against settlers are laying the foundations to turn verbal condemnations into tangible action.

By Ori Kol March 19, 2024

Armed Israeli settlers harass Palestinian farmers and activists from the Faz3a campaign during olive harvest in the village of Jibya, West Bank, October 28, 2022. (Anne Paq/Activestills)

Israel is surveilling U.S. data on settler attacks to thwart sanctions, sources reveal

Intelligence sources say Israel seeks to counter information sent privately to the U.S. by the PA, fearing actions against violent West Bank settlers.

By Yuval Abraham February 14, 2024

Latest

Einan Tanjil (left) and another settler attack Palestinian farmers and Israeli activists in Surif, occupied West Bank. (Shay Kendler)

Meet the settlers targeted by Biden’s sanctions — and their victims

Palestinians and Israelis who’ve experienced the settlers’ attacks first-hand see the move as a positive but wholly insufficient step toward accountability.

By Oren Ziv February 8, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to the press regarding implementing Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and it's Jewish settlements, in Ramat Gan on September 10, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

How Europe could rethink its economic ties with Israel

Israel has ignored EU criticisms of West Bank annexation while enjoying funds for science and technology. It will not halt its plans if relations are unchanged.

By Robert Swift and Ben Fisher June 10, 2020

Thousands of Israeli left-wing activists take part in a rally in Rabin Square, demanding Israel enter talks with Palestinians and in support of the two-state solution, May 27th, 2017. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

How one of Israel’s veteran activists came to support (some) sanctions

Galia Golan has been in the peacemaking business for nearly five decades. In a wide-ranging interview, the Peace Now co-founder discusses why she left the group, her support for a Israeli-Palestinian confederation, and why full-blown BDS won't work.

By Edo Konrad November 20, 2018

Palestinian, foreign, and Israeli activists try to block an Israeli bulldozer preparing for the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, July 4, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

The moment of truth for EU policy on Israel-Palestine

Whether European states follow through on their threats and warnings over the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar will determine a great deal about the EU’s relevance and its ability to influence Israeli policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians. European powers are going to have to make a crucial choice in the coming week. Two months after five EU…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man September 5, 2018

Jewish settlers clean the newly harvested grapes at a winery in the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion, September 8, 2014. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Irish senate passes sanctions on Israeli settlements

The law, which still needs to go through the lower house and be signed by the president, would criminalize the import and sale of goods and services that originate in settlements in occupied territories, targeting Israeli settlements but also other occupations worldwide. The vote had been shelved earlier this year after objections by Israel. The…

By Edo Konrad July 11, 2018

Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian youth during a protest against Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Hebron, West Bank, December 7, 2017. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Europe, wake up and smell the coffee

Netanyahu’s Israel openly mocks the values that Europe claims to hold dear. When will European leaders stand up and reject the unacceptable reality of the past 50 years? By Hagai El-Ad European foreign ministers attending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s breakfast in Brussels this Monday may find their thoughts wandering, as the guest of honor once again…

By +972 Magazine December 10, 2017

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a helicopter as he tours the separation fence near the Palestinian town of Tarqumiyah, West Bank, July 20, 2016. (Marc Israel Sellem/Pool)

UN vote exposes the true face of Israel’s settlement policy

Whatever the passage of a UN resolution criticizing the settlements may bring, the fallout has already made one thing clear: the Israeli government subscribes to a de facto ‘Greater Israel’ policy. In the summer of 1967, before anyone was aware of just how durable Israel’s occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory would prove, a movement…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland December 26, 2016

Two Palestinian women walk along Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank village of Abu Dis. (Anna Kaplan/Flash90)

Nearly half of Americans support sanctions on Israel, poll finds

As the Democratic party regroups ahead of the next election cycle, it would be wise for its leadership to examine areas where the Clinton campaign diverged from the party’s base. Israel-Palestine is one of those issues. The number of Americans who support imposing sanctions on Israel over its defiant settlement policies has shot up to…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man December 3, 2016

U.S. President Barack Obama boards Air Force One at the end of a visit to Israel. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Trump’s victory leaves Obama with only one option on Israel-Palestine

When everyone believed Clinton was going to be the next president, Obama was rumored to be considering several last-minute options to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace. All that went out the window on Tuesday. The Obama administration is probably trying to figure out how to protect its two signature achievements – Obamacare and the Iranian nuclear deal…

By Noam Sheizaf November 11, 2016

A view of the Israeli settlement of Shilo in the West Bank, October 6, 2016. The new settlement that angered the United States is being portrayed as a neighborhood of Shilo, but Shilo’s boundaries have been redrawn to include the site that is over 1 kilometer away. (Flash90)

The U.S. isn’t going to do a damn thing to end the occupation

As long as Washington views ending the occupation as an Israeli problem instead of a Palestinian problem, it will never even consider using its leverage to do so. The United States issued an unusually sharp rebuke on Wednesday to news that Israel is building a brand new settlement in the West Bank. The State Department…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man October 6, 2016