UK sanctions on Israeli settler networks ‘not meaningful accountability – the architects go untouched’

Responding to today’s UK government announcement of new sanctions targeting networks financing and enabling settler violence in the Occupied West Bank, Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK's Crisis Response Manager, said:

“Today’s announcements are a step, but they are not enough. If Ministers are serious about sanctioning those 'who support and sponsor violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank', they must act on the reality that settlements and settler violence are state policy – directed and funded from the top.

“Targeting settler financing networks while the ministers who run this campaign face no consequences is not meaningful accountability – it leaves the architects untouched. The UK must sanction Benjamin Netanyahu, Orit Strock and Israel Katz as well as former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

“Investigating UK charities providing funding to Israeli settlements is welcome, as is the recognition that businesses should not be conducting activities in settlements. But business guidance alone is insufficient. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UK must ban all trade with settlements and halt cooperation and investment relations enabling unlawful occupation and apartheid.

“The legal obligation is clear, but the political will is still not strong enough. Successive UK governments have failed to take meaningful action to stop Israel's crimes and those that enable them. That failure sends a dangerous message that Palestinian lives are not valued and that unlawful occupation and apartheid and are acceptable. This must end now.”