Trump Lifts Biden-era Sanctions on Israeli Settlers in the Occupied West Bank

On January 20, 2025, US President Donald Trump lifted sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on far-right Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the new White House website said.

Israeli officials applaud Trump’s decision to reverse the Biden administration’s sanctions.

According to the website, on February 1, 2024, Trump revoked Executive Order 14115, which permitted the use of specific penalties “on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West Bank.”

The move was intended to address concerns about ongoing violence and tensions in the region. The lifting of these sanctions is seen as a significant shift in US policy toward Israeli settler activities in the West Bank.

The U.S. sanctions on Israeli settlers come as the Biden administration has repeatedly urged the Israeli government to take tougher action against extremists and groups responsible for actions that undermine a possible two-state solution between the Palestinians and Israelis.

The sanctions freeze U.S. assets of designated entities and prohibit Americans from doing any business with them. Israel’s growing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and its continued land acquisitions in the occupied territories have left Israel’s Western allies in a state of alarm.

Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has controlled the West Bank, which Palestinians see as the center of a future independent state. The Israeli government has built several Jewish settlements in the area, which many countries consider illegal.

Read Also

• UK to Launch World’s First Sanctions Regime to Target Upstream People Smuggling
• INTERPOL Launches Silver Notice to Trace And Recover Criminal Assets
• HM Treasury Sanctions Extreme Right-Wing Group ‘Blood and Honour’ under Domestic Counter-Terrorism Regulations

Israel disputes this characterization and cites Biblical & historical ties to the land as the basis for its claims.

According to a media source, Trump took a very different approach when it came to settlements. Trump renounced the long-standing U.S. stance that the settlements are unlawful during his first term in 2019, but Biden reinstated it.