In his final moments in the White House, Biden sanctions Israelis and rewards the Palestinians
The US government has decided to bow to pressure from the most left-wing of the Democratic Party, imposing sanctions on Israeli citizens and institutions while sending millions of additional dollars to Gaza and the Palestinian Authority.
Joe Biden
The Biden administration announced on Monday the imposition of sanctions against three Israelis residing in Jewish communities in the West Bank, as well as private institutions in Israel in that region, just days after granting an additional $230 million to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Hamas terrorist group, and in the Palestinian Authority, governed by Mahmoud Abbas.
The punitive measures against Israel were announced after a group of nearly 90 Democratic lawmakers pressured the Biden administration to step up sanctions against the Jewish state before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
The sanctions against Israel were imposed because the Biden Administration accuses the companies and citizens in question of inciting violence against Palestinians.
The funds sent to the Palestinians, the administration indicated, are intended to create humanitarian projects in the West Bank and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Biden gives Hamas a break
The US media outlet noted that the administration headed by Biden has already sent more than $2 billion to the Hamas-ruled Palestinians since the October 7 massacre perpetrated by Gaza terrorists in southern Israel.
This assistance has been widely criticized in the United States because many view such resources as providing respite to Hamas in the midst of the war in Gaza.
Sanctioned citizens and institutions
The Israeli citizens sanctioned by the US Treasury Department are Shabtai Kushlevsky, Itamar Yehuda Levi and Zohar Sabah, while the institutions targeted by the agency's punitive measures are the Amana movement, an organization that promotes the development of populations in the West Bank, and the companies Binyanei Bar Amana Ltd. and El Har Yehuda Ltd.
The Biden Administration's sanctions consist of freezing all their assets in the United States, as well as prohibiting US citizens or US companies from doing business with those sanctioned.
Dovi Shefler, mayor of Efrat in the West Bank, called the measure "not only a moral mistake, but a blow to the security interests of the State of Israel."
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