Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday evening blasted the European Union after its Foreign Affairs Council approved sanctions on Israeli citizens and organizations, which it claimed were behind violence against Palestinian Arabs, alongside sanctions on leading Hamas terrorists.
“As Israel and the US are ‘doing Europe’s dirty work’ by fighting for civilization against Jihadist lunatics in Iran and elsewhere, the European Union exposed its moral bankruptcy by drawing a false symmetry between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists," said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.
“European politicians are coerced by their radical constituencies but sanctioning Jews for living in Judea and Samaria is unacceptable. Judea is where Jews come from and Israel will always protect the rights of Jews to live in the heart of our ancestral homeland," the statement added.
“The European Union's attempts to sanction Israeli civilians is a further sign of weakness and will not succeed," it concluded.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas announced following the meeting of EU foreign ministers that the bloc “gave the go-ahead to sanction Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians."
“They also agreed on new sanctions on leading Hamas figures," Kallas stated.
“It was high time we moved from deadlock to delivery. Extremism and violence carry consequences," she added.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar sharply criticized the decision.
“Israel firmly rejects the decision to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and organizations," Sa’ar stated, adding, “The European Union has chosen, in an arbitrary and political manner, to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and entities because of their political views and without any basis."
Sa’ar also condemned what he described as a comparison between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists.
“Equally outrageous is the unacceptable comparison the European Union has chosen to make between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists. This is a completely distorted moral equivalence," he stated.
Sa’ar added that “Israel has stood, stands, and will continue to stand for the right of Jews to settle in the heart of our homeland."