Washington, D.C. – Foreign Policy for America condemns the rising violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. Settler attacks have hit record levels this year and are spiking again during the olive harvest, a season many Palestinian families depend on to make a living.
This year alone, at least 79 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by settlers or Israeli forces. In the past few days, settlers beat an American journalist covering the harvest and attacked a group of European diplomats. Israeli police have arrested 10 suspects, but settlers are rarely held accountable.
The United States has real leverage to change this. Early last year, the Trump administration lifted sanctions on violent settlers and the groups behind them, removing one of the few tools that put a real cost on this violence. Even U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee has called for the attackers of an American journalist to be prosecuted. Words aren’t enough. The U.S. should reinstate and expand sanctions on violent settlers and those who fund and enable them, an approach reflected in legislation led by Reps. Joaquin Castro and Jerry Nadler.
Settlement expansion and the violence that comes with it are pushing Palestinians off their land and shrinking the chance of a lasting peace. Those responsible for these attacks must be held accountable, and Palestinian civilians must be protected.
###
