Europe’s abandonment of Israel took a step further on Tuesday when officials in the UK and Norway—as well as in Australia, Canada and New Zealand—slapped sanctions on Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, saying they had “incited extremist violence.”
Britain’s more rightwing papers criticised the move by the Labour government, which still refuses to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Muslim Brotherhood. Broadcaster Jonathan Sacerdoti also attacked the “double standard,” which he described as “a gift to Hamas and a blow to our alliances.”
The move is also a slap in the face for Donald Trump’s administration, which earlier this month called on Europe to stand up for Israel. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions “do not advance U.S.-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and end the war,” and urged “our partners not to forget who the real enemy is.”
We reject any notion of equivalence: Hamas is a terrorist organisation that committed unspeakable atrocities, continues to hold innocent civilians hostage, and prevents the people of Gaza from living in peace.
The United States condemns the sanctions imposed by the governments of United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, and Australia on two sitting members of the Israeli cabinet. These sanctions do not advance U.S.-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and…
U.S. ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens agreed that “these measures impede constructive dialogue and do not advance our shared goals of supporting peace and security.”
Not that Europe and its anti-Israel allies are likely to change course. The sanction-imposing officials said in a joint statement that peace in the Middle East is “imperilled by extremist settler violence and settlement expansion,” accusing Smotrich and Ben Gvir of “serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.”
Israeli officials have criticised the sanctions and thanked Trump’s administration for its “moral clarity and support of Israel.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
