At the start of the year, the United States, the European Union and other countries – including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan – took the unprecedented step of imposing economic sanctions against Israeli settlers, radical right-wing activists and organizations linked to the Israeli settlement enterprise in the West Bank. Shomrim recently revealed that The U.S. State Department is even considering imposing sanctions against Amana, one of the flagship organizations of the settlements, and the Regavim NGO, which advocates the application of Israeli sovereignty over territory along the Green Line.

An executive order signed by the U.S.President Joe Biden in February explained that acts of violence by settlers have become a threat to regional stability and this is why the United States has decided to get involved. The State Department or the Treasury Department are the bodies in the United States responsible for enforcing these sanctions. In an interview with Shomrim, Aaron Forsberg, the Director of the Office of Economic Sanctions Policy and Implementation at the State Department, said that “we are using the sanctions to designate an ever-broader selection of targets.”

The imposition of sanctions is a major worry among the settler movement. Last week, for example, the leader of the Yesha Council of West Bank Settlements met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding that he take action on the issue. That meeting came after a plethora of public statements, legislative initiatives and other responses. Shomrim can now reveal, thanks to an analysis of financial records and correspondence in private online groups, how the individuals targeted by the sanction are looking for ways to bypass them.

In July, for example, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Tzav 9 and two of its founders for, in the words of the official State Department communiqué, “blocking, harassing, and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” Of them – mother of eight Reut Ben Haim from Netivot – wrote about the issue in messages to a potential donor just a few days after the sanctions were imposed. She pointed out that money could still be sent to the organization through her husband, Sefi, against whom the U.S. has not imposed personal sanctions, adding that the donor should not mention Tzav 9 while making the transfer and should only say that the money is for “legal expenses.”

Shomrim has also discovered that, as part of her efforts to bypass sanctions, Ben Haim sent a message in a WhatsApp group linked to Tzav 9, detailing how supporters can still contribute to the organization and its leaders. According to these instructions, once supporters have registered with the organization and decided on a “fundraising target,” they should then open an account with an Israeli online payment service, such as Bit or Paybox, to accept new donations – which would then be transferred to “a place the details of which will be provided to you.” The guidelines do not specify whether this “place” is a bank account or whether the money is to be handed over in cash and is, in effect, an attempt to bypass sanctions by creating “buffers” between the organization, its donors and those individuals who are helping it.

‘Companies don’t have humanitarian needs’

The imposition of sanctions means that financial institutions operating in the country that has imposed them are prohibited from having any connection with the individual or organization targeted by the sanctions, or with any foreign entity providing them with business or financial services. For example, an Israeli bank where the subject of sanctions has an account risks having its relations with American banks severed. The account can still exist at the bank, as long as it has no ties with any American body or company. This means that the account holder cannot own a credit card, since the credit card companies are based in the United States, and cannot transfer money digitally, since the global system for such transfers is also American. In fact, the moment sanctions are imposed, the account becomes cash only. The sanctions also include a ban on travel to the country that imposed them and other restrictions.

Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich are two of the organizations which raised money online and which have now been targeted by sanctions. In April, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Wally Adeyemo, issued a statement in which he said that the two organizations “generated tens of thousands of dollars for extremists responsible for destroying property, assaulting civilians, and violence against Palestinians.”

According to various reports, the U.S. administration claimed that money raised by Shalom Asiraich was designated, inter alia, for David Chai Chasdai, a settler against whom individual sanctions were also imposed. Money raised by the Mount Hebron Fund, according to the same reports, was earmarked for another settler, Yinon Levi.

According to a report in Haaretz, meanwhile, shortly before he was targeted by sanctions, Levi transferred to his brother his share in Eyal Judaean Mountains Company Ltd., the business they co-owned. According to Companies Registrar records, the transfer was agreed upon in September 2023 – months before Levi was hit with sanctions – but the Justice Ministry only got notice of the change and only approved it in February 2024 – days after Biden’s executive order. “We hereby confirm that, in accordance with the report received on 04/02/2024, the transfer of shares in the company was on 04/02/2024,” stated a letter that was sent by the Israeli Corporations Authority to Eyal Judaean Mountains on that date. According to the Haaretz report, Levi’s brother - Itamar Yehuda Levi – denies that the change in ownership came after the United States’ decision.

According to U.S. Treasury Department regulations, if a company is under at least 50 percent ownership of someone against whom sanctions have been imposed, the company itself could also be liable to sanctions. So, when the Americans imposed sanctions in February, the banks at which the targets of the sanctions held accounts from their assets in order to protect their relations with international financial institutions.

One month later, on March 26, the Treasury Department sent a letter to the Supervisor of Banks at the Bank of Israel, explaining that Israeli banks are still allowed to process transactions for individuals mentioned in the Executive Order, as long as they are “necessary to basic human needs or subsistence,” such as food medical treatment and accommodation, and “provided these transactions do not involve the U.S. financial system or U.S. persons.”

Hagit Ofran, a Peace Now activist who has been following the issue, tells Shomrim that while individuals who have been targeted by sanctions are allowed to withdraw money for basic human needs, “that isn’t relevant when it comes to organizations. Companies do not have humanitarian needs. The banks are allowed to free up money that they need for subsistence, but not money to do business.”

Last month, the United States also imposed sanctions against West Bank outposts. The Manne farm outpost in the South Hebron Hills is one of them. Its founder, Isaschar Manne, has been accused by the United States and France of exacerbating tensions in the occupied territories and attempting to seize land belonging to Palestinians. The outpost consists of a herd of goats, tents that can be rented out and accommodation for visitors. Sanctions were imposed on the outpost in July, but despite the financial restrictions, residents told Shomrim that supporters can still send them money via Israeli online payment platforms – or in cash.

‘We are obligated to block your card’

One of the only individuals to have been sanctioned who has spoken about their impact is Bentzi Gopstein, the founder and leader of Lehava (a far-right organization), who recently complained at length on his Telegram channel about the far-reaching ramifications of being targeted by the United States and other countries. “Yesterday afternoon, I stopped at a gas station in Jerusalem to fill up my car,” he shared with his followers. “I tried to pay using my credit card, but the screen told me it had been rejected. I tried again, and again. I thought there might be a problem with the card itself. After waiting there a few minutes, I got an answer in the form of a text message from the credit card company: ‘In light of your inclusion in the list of sanctions issued by the U.S. Treasury Department (OFAC), we are obligated to block your card’.”

Gopstein went on to claim that, in response to the sanctions, Google also took steps against him and Lehava, closing accounts and blocking access to thousands of photographs stored in the company’s cloud. Their bank accounts and access to online money transfer applications were also blocked.

In order to bypass the restrictions on bank transfers and his inability to use his credit card, Gopstein asked his supporters to help Lehava by making cash donations at events it organizes across the country. “This is a real, genuine emergency,” Gopstein added. “I need you with us, because of the bizarre sanctions that have been imposed on us. We are working in every conceivable way to ensure that we can continue to operate as usual, but until that happens, we will launch a new effort…” It is unclear how much money Gopstein managed to raise for Lehava this way, but that was not his final appeal for cash using the Telegram messaging service.

In general, most of Gopstein and the other settlers’ anger is directed at the Biden administration. Some of the targeted individuals have described the American decision as “antisemitic sanctions” imposed by “a hostile American administration.” In recent weeks, Gopstein has also shared a link allowing his followers to donate money, accompanied by a message urging them to donate “especially now.” In July, Lehava supporters held a protest event in Jerusalem under the headline “Say no to Biden.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is ideologically close to Gopstein, slammed the sanctions: “The harassment of Lehava and cherished settlers, who have never engaged in terrorism and have never harmed anyone” he wrote, “is the result of a blood libel by antisemitic, Israel-hating elements, those who for years have openly supported Hamas, Fatah, and anarchist organizations that harm IDF soldiers.”

The targets of American sanctions believe – or perhaps more accurately hope – that the sanctions will be lifted soon. “We survived Pharoah, we’ll survive Biden, too,” Gopstein was quoted as saying.

It is far from clear, however, on what Gopstein is basing this optimism, since reports in the media suggest that the United States is only planning on expanding its use of sanctions. According to a report on Axios, for example, the White House is even considering imposing sanctions against two members of the Israeli cabinet – Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. In recent weeks, Smotrich has met with leaders of the Tzav 9 movement and has called for the sanctions against the organization to be lifted. And, as already mentioned, Shomrim recently revealed that the United States is also weighing sanctions against Amana and Regavim (a pro-settler Israeli NGO), of which Smotrich was a founding member.

This week, Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, responded on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to calls by Smotrich and Ben-Gvir for Israel to block aid to the Gaza Strip. “This is an incitement to war crimes,” he wrote. “Sanctions must be on our EU agenda.”

Shomrim sent requests for comment to Tzav 9, the Manne farm outpost, Reut Ben Haim, Lehava and Benzi Gopstein – none of which submitted a response.

Following publication of this article, Shlomo Sarid, one of the leaders of Tzav 9, contacted Shomrim and submitted the following response on behalf of the organization.

“American sanctions are a violation of Israeli sovereignty, its democracy and the authority of Israeli law. We deplore the fact that the European Union and the U.S. administration decided to impose sanctions on Tzav 9, which is a legitimate Israeli civil protest movement. The Tzav 9 movement is active within the State of Israel and operates in accordance with Israeli law. We will continue to oppose the fact that humanitarian aid is delivered directly to Hamas, we are promoting a plan for the distribution of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza without the involvement of Hamas. It is the Israeli government that is violating Israeli law by allowing aid to be delivered to the enemy during a time of war – a policy that makes it harder to get back our brethren, the hostages.

“Our activities are continuously accompanied by legal advisors and, of course, we continue to raise money from the general public in order to continue our activities and to cover the legal costs of fighting these harsh, undemocratic and illiberal personal sanctions against two of the leaders of the movement, Reut Ben Haim and Shlomo Sarid, whose only crime is to spearhead a democratic and legitimate protest movement. We cannot accept a situation in which law-abiding, democratic citizens – who serve in the reserves – are forced to live in terrible fear over the next wave of sanctions to which they could be subjected. Individual freedom and the right to free speech in Israel are under severe threat. The government of Israel must protect its citizens economically and legally and must allow us to make our voices heard against its policies.”