The US Treasury Department announced on Friday that sanctions have been imposed on two organizations for fundraising on behalf of violent Israeli extremists in the West Bank. The sanctioned groups, Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich, were found to have established crowdfunding campaigns to raise funds for Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai, who were previously sanctioned by the US in February under a new executive order targeting individuals perpetrating violence in the West Bank.
In addition to these sanctions, the State Department also announced sanctions on Ben-Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of Lehava, an organization whose members have been involved in violent acts, including assaults on Palestinian civilians. The Treasury Department highlighted these actions in a statement released on Friday.
The executive order, signed by President Joe Biden in early February, was a response to the escalating violence in the occupied West Bank following the Hamas attack on October 7. The situation has remained tense in the region in the months that followed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his discontent with the executive order, raising concerns with the US administration and labeling it as 'inappropriate' and 'highly problematic,' as reported by Axios.
