Rep. Summer Lee introduces legislation to sanction Israeli settlers
14 Democrats co-sponsor bill
Last week, Rep. Summer Lee, who represents Pittsburgh’s 12th District, and Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont introduced legislation that would sanction Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
The Sanctions and Accountability for Non-Compliance and Transparent Investigative Oversight for National Security (SANCTIONS) in the West Bank Act seeks to codify President Joe Biden’s Feb. 1 executive order imposing sanctions “on individuals undermining peace, security and stability in the West Bank,” Lee said in a news release.
Biden’s executive order specifically targeted Israeli settlers who engaged in “high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction.”
The settlers’ actions, the executive order says, endanger Israel’s security and the viability of a two-state solution and, as a result, “constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
Lee and Welch’s proposed bill “permanently authorizes sanctions targeting individuals responsible for acts of violence, property destruction, or other destabilizing activities in the West Bank,” and “freezes U.S.-based assets, blocks financial transactions, and denies U.S. entry for designated individuals engaged in violence or human rights violations.”
The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Marc Pocan, Betty McCollum, Zoe Lofgren, Jill Tokuda, Al Green, Jan Schakowsky, Sara Jacobs, Jim McGovern and André Carson, and Sens. Dick Durbin, Bernie Sanders, Jack Reed, Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley, all Democrats.
It is endorsed by the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine; J Street; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Human Rights Watch; New Jewish Narrative; Peace Action; and Quincy Institute.
In the news release announcing the legislation, Lee claimed the bill is “about accountability, justice, and ensuring that U.S. policy stands firmly against extremist violence and destabilization.”
“The surge in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank is a humanitarian and moral crisis,” she said. “By codifying these sanctions, we are making clear that the U.S. supports peace and dignity for all people living in the region.”
Lee did not make any reference to the violence perpetrated by the terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 7 when it attacked Israel, murdering 1,200 people, and abducting more than 250 people, mostly civilians, into Gaza. She also did not refer to terror perpetrated by Palestinians in the West Bank. PJC
—David Rullo
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