The justifications are tenuous.
Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning Amana the Settlement Movement of Gush Emunim Central Cooperative Association Ltd (Amana), a settlement development organization that is involved with U.S.-sanctioned individuals and outposts that perpetrate violence in the West Bank, and its subsidiary Binyanei Bar Amana Ltd. This action, taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14115, is part of an ongoing multilateral approach by the United States and its partners to hold accountable those who are threatening the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank. Amana has also been sanctioned by the United Kingdom and Canada....Amana is a key part of the Israeli extremist settlement movement and maintains ties to various persons previously sanctioned by the U.S. government and its partners for perpetrating violence in the West Bank. For example, Amana provided a loan to Israeli settler Isaschar Manne, and served as a partner in the formation of Meitarim Farm. The U.S. Department of State sanctioned Isaschar Manne and Meitarim Farm on July 11, 2024 pursuant to E.O. 14115. The settlers and farms that Amana supports play a key role in developing settlements in the West Bank, from which in turn settlers commit violence. More broadly, Amana strategically uses farming outposts, which it supports through financing, loans, and building infrastructure, to expand settlements and seize land.
By this logic, the US should sanction the EU.
For many years, the EU has explicitly pursued a policy of building Arab settlements in Area C, choosing areas deliberately to seize land that will stop Jews from living there. It is spending tens of millions of euros on buildings and structures that are against international law.
Some Arab terrorists come from Area C.
The terrorist who slaughtered the Salomon family during a Shabbat dinner came from Kobar, which is about half in Area C. An Arab from Az Zawiya, in Area C, stabbed Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal to death in 2019.
Did the EU play a role in these murders and others? Directly, no, but the State Department is not sanctioning Amana for direct support for violence, but for indirect support. There is no doubt some terrorists whose crimes don't rise to the level of media interest have come from areas that the EU helped build.
To put it mildly, that is a slippery slope. The last sentence quoted above, that "Amana strategically uses farming outposts, which it supports through financing, loans, and building infrastructure, to expand settlements and seize land" applies just as much to the EU.
That sentence shows that the intent of the sanctions goes way beyond Amana giving a loan to a person who is under sanctions. It is meant to stop all Israeli actions in Area C, even those that are legal under Israeli law.
The State Department sanctioning of Jewish organizations has little to do with protecting Palestinians. Settler leaders have consistently spoken out against violence by a small number of hotheads. These sanctions are political, not humanitarian, and meant to force US wishes on Israel.
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