The US recently signed on a special presidential order against four Israeli settlers involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank: Shalom Zicherman, Yinon Levi, David Chai Chasdai, and Einan Tanjile. According to the order, the four were involved in arson that led to harm to human life, threats against Palestinian farmers who abandoned their homes, and physical harm to Palestinians.
The true severity of the US sanctions against Israeli settlers
But it is not just about blocking a bank account or preventing entry into the United States as reported initially, the significance of the order is blocking access of those same four settlers from any financial activity related to the United States in any way. And according to Prof. Asher Blass, former chief economist at the Bank of Israel, this is much broader than one would initially think: “Almost everything financial utilizes the global banking system. Almost every company today, including Netflix, Apple, and others, rely on services and are in some way or another in the United States. It starts with banks and the financial system but also blocks access to SWIFT (the global money transfer system used by companies from over 200 countries – Israel included). These sanctions have also been levied against them.”
