Pro-Israel Advocacy Group Sues US Financial Sanctions Over Israel's Population In Palestine

UNSPLASH/Tabrez Syed White House/ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Pro-Israel advocacy groups and US-Israel dual nationals filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden's order to impose financial and immigration sanctions on individuals involved in the violence of settlers in the West Bank.

The lawsuit filed in federal court of Amarillo, Texas, on Tuesday, August 6, said Biden's executive order in February violated the plaintiff's right to freedom of expression under the US Constitution and illegally disrupted the implementation of their religious beliefs.

Plaintiffs include Texas citizens for Israel, Christian nonprofit organization, Israel's nonprofit organization Regavim, the group's leaders, and two US-Israeli dual nationals living in the West Bank.

They oppose the two-state solution' supported by the Biden administration.

Biden's executive orders allow federal agencies to impose financial sanctions and visa restrictions on individuals who attack or intimidate Palestinians or confiscate their property.

The White House when issuing the order said it would "promoting peace and security for Israel and Palestine."

However, the new lawsuit claims the order provides wider punishment to anyone opposing the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"This is the first and only sanctions regime in which the government considers ordinary, peaceful, and political positions reasonable to be supported by many Americans as a matter that goes against "peace" and can therefore be subject to sanctions", they said.

The White House and several federal agencies named as defendants in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case was handed over to US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump and was once a Christian legal activist whose court was the goal of 'favor' to oppose Biden's government policies.

In February, Kacsmaryk rejected the government's attempt to reject the lawsuit of a Republican member of Congress and three others seeking to block US aid to the West Bank and Gaza which they said funded the Palestinian Authority illegally.