Finance Minister Smotrich cuts relationship between Israeli-Palestinian banks in retaliation
By Ishde – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
The United Kingdom on Tuesday announced personal sanctions against right-wing Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich, of the Religious Zionism party, and Itamar Ben Gvir, of the Jewish Power party, citing their statements on Gaza and their “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities.”
The UK was joined by four other Western countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Norway, in placing sanctions on the two Israeli ministers known for their provocative statements about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The UK Foreign Office said the government took the step of sanctioning the two ministers because, “We are steadfastly committed to the two-state solution and will continue to work with our partners towards its implementation.”
The office said that it believes the two-state solution “is the only way to guarantee security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians and ensure long term stability in the region,” and claimed that the two-state solution “is imperilled by extremist settler violence and settlement expansion.”
Furthermore, the Foreign Office claimed that “Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.”
“These actions are not acceptable. This is why we have taken action now — to hold those responsible to account,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of the other nations.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responded sharply to the announcement, saying, “The British Mandate for the land of Israel ended in May 1948. It will never return.”
Minister Sa’ar also said the action was part of a “political pressure” campaign which has “one goal: to bring about an end to the war without achieving its goals, while Hamas still controls Gaza and continues to endanger Israel’s security.”
U.S. Secretary Of State Marco Rubio also blasted the decision to impose sanctions on the two Israeli ministers, saying, “These sanctions do not advance U.S.-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all the hostages home, and end the war.”
Secretary Rubio affirmed that the United States “stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel.”
Both ministers posted responses to Secretary Rubio’s statement on X, thanking him, with Minister Ben Gvir saying, “The American administration is a moral compass in the face of the confusion of some Western countries that choose to appease terrorist organizations like Hamas.”
In a follow-up post, Ben Gvir slammed the “campaign of appeasement” by the Western nations, calling them “European colonial countries.”
Minister Smotrich also thanked Rubio “for a clear and unwavering voice of justice, morality, and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, between truth and falsehood.”
“Together, we will defeat evil and bring much light and goodness to the entire free world,” Smotrich added.
In retaliation for the decision to impose sanctions, Minister Smotrich directed his office, the Finance Ministry, to waive the indemnity that had been given to Israeli banks to correspond with Palestinian banks, a move that will have devastating effects on the Palestinian economy.
The Palestinian economy is dependent on the Israeli banking system, as it does not have its own currency, and banks in the Palestinian Territories are dependent on relations with Israeli banks to process electronic transactions in shekels.
The move could lead the Palestinian economy to become a cash-based economy, which would make it harder for the Palestinian Authority to restrict transactions made with terror groups in their territory.
The UK’s Foreign Office cited UN-provided data, claiming that “As of April 2025, extremist settlers have carried out over 1,900 attacks against Palestinian civilians since January last year.”
Earlier this month, the pro-settlement Regavim group released a report, which claims that the UN data used by the UK is flawed, and that the UN includes injuries in security incidents involving attempted Palestinian terror attacks as part of the figures for “settler violence.”
“The [UN] database counts Palestinians who were injured or killed during or in response to attacks and terrorist acts they themselves initiated against Israeli civilians in Judea, Samaria, and the rest of the country, as victims of ‘settler violence,’ the report claims.
The report also claims that “the UN database includes thousands of clearly non-violent incidents in its count of violent events. For example: Jewish visits to the Temple Mount, tourists visiting archaeological sites, infrastructure work carried out legally by the State of Israel itself, traffic accidents, and more.”
On Wednesday morning, Minister Ben Gvir ascended the Temple Mount, announcing that he was conducting a “working tour of the Temple Mount.”
I’m so ashamed of this pusillanimous, mealy-mouthed, terrorist-supporting government in the UK – I certainly didn’t vote for them and everything they say makes me cringe. They don’t understand that the two-state solution is NOT what the Pals want. All that Hamas, the PA and the other appalling factions are calling for is the extinction of Israel and the Jewish people, or in other words, one state – a Palestinian State. And that, please G-d, will never happen.