German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced during a news conference in Jerusalem this evening (Wednesday) that the German government is lobbying the European Union to impose sanctions on Jewish settlers accused of assaulting Arabs in Judea and Samaria, after the US, Britain, and France imposed such sanctions over the last few weeks.
“Let’s agree on sanctions together in Europe. For this, we need all 27 member states. We, as Germans, have pushed this on the European path,” Baerbock said, noting that for the EU to impose sanctions, all member nations would have to agree to the move.
Baerbock also warned against an Israeli military operation in Rafah, where two Israeli hostages were rescued from Hamas captivity on Sunday, saying, If the Israeli army were to launch an offensive on Rafah under these conditions, it would be a humanitarian catastrophe."
The Biden Administration opened the door to the imposition of sanctions on Jewish settlers with an executive order imposing sanctions on four settlers accused of violence on February 1.
President Biden's executive order declared a national emergency to deal with the "threat posed by the situation in the West Bank, including in particular high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction," imposing sanctions on those who were considered to be involved in such actions.
On Monday, the UK followed suit by also announcing sanctions on four Jewish settlers. Only one name on the UK's list was also included in the American list.
Yesterday (Tuesday), France became the third nation to impose sanctions on Jewish settlers, going further than the US and UK by announcing sanctions on 28 individuals.