US sanctions Lehava leader, fundraisers for violent settlers

The Treasury Department on Friday issued new sanctions against two entities linked to settler violence in the West Bank, the same day that similar measures were taken by the European Union Council.

One entity, Mount Hebron Fund, launched an online fundraising campaign that raised $140,000 for settler Yinon Levi, Treasury said, after he was sanctioned on February 1 for leading a group of settlers that assaulted Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, burned their fields and destroyed their property. The EU Council separately sanctioned Levi today. 

Treasury said that the second entity, Shlom Asiraich, raised $31,000 on a crowdfunding website for David Chai Chasdai, who the United States says initiated and led a riot that included setting vehicles and buildings on fire and causing damage to property in Huwara, resulting in the death of a Palestinian civilian.

“Such acts by these organizations undermine the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank. We will continue to use our tools to hold those responsible accountable," Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in the statement.

US sanctions Ben-Zion Gopstein

Concurrently, the US State Department sanctioned Ben-Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of the Jewish extremist group Lehava, which was also sanctioned today by the EU, along with leaders of the so-called "hilltop youth," and what the EU referred to as "Hilltop Youth" itself.

Violence by extremist settlers against Palestinian civilians is unacceptable. We’re sanctioning Ben Zion Gopstein - the leader of Lehava - whose members engaged in destabilizing violence. @USTreasury is also sanctioning two entities for fundraising for violent extremists.

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) April 19, 2024

"Under Gopstein’s leadership, Lehava and its members have been involved in acts or threats of violence against Palestinians, often targeting sensitive or volatile areas," the State Department said in a statement. 

Gopstein was convicted of incitement to racism earlier this year. He is known to be a close confidante of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who condemned the sanctions.

Ben-Gvir calls sanctions a "campaign of persecution" 

"The harassment of the Lehava organization and against dear settlers, who have never engaged in terrorism and have never harmed anyone," Ben-Gvir said, "are the result of a blood libel by antisemitic, Israel-hating elements, those who for years have openly supported Hamas, Fatah, and anarchist organizations that harm IDF soldiers. 

"I call on the countries of the West to stop cooperating with these antisemites, and to stop the campaign of persecution against settlers, pioneers, and Zionists."