US Congressman Urges President Biden To Impose Sanctions On Israel Regarding Violence In The West Bank

Capitol Hill. (Wikimedia Commons/Architect of the Capitol)

JAKARTA - Nearly 90 Democratic lawmakers urged US President Joe Biden to sanction Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding anti-Palestinian violence in the West Bank, according to a letter released on Thursday.

Urging President Biden to send a message to US partners before he left office, members of Congress said Israeli cabinet members Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had sparked violence by Israeli settlers in occupied territories.

"We write to express our deep concern about the increasing violence of settlers, the expansion of settlements, and the actions taken to weaken the Palestinian Authority and otherwise destabilize the West Bank," they said in the letter.

The letter, signed by 17 senators and 71 members of the House of Representatives, said Israeli settlers had carried out more than 1,270 recorded attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, with an average of more than three violent attacks per day.

The letter was dated October 29 but published on Thursday as lawmakers have yet to receive a response from the White House, three members of Congress said.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen and Democratic House of Representatives members Rosa DeLauro and Sean Casten, who led the attempt to send the letter, told reporters President Biden had the authority to impose sanctions based on existing executive orders.

Doing so will send a message not only to Israel and Palestine, but also to US allies elsewhere in the world that the United States will fight humanitarian issues, they said.

"We think it is more important than ever that President Biden at this time stated that the United States will not be a rubber stamp for Netanyahu's extreme actions," Van Hollen stressed.

Spokesperson for the White House and the Israeli embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It is known, Uncle Sam's country for decades supported a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, urging Israel not to expand settlements.

The West Bank is one of the territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and a Palestinian base, with international support, seeking state status. Most superpowers consider Israeli settlements in the region illegal.

Israel denies it, citing historical claims over the West Bank and describes it as a security stronghold.

PM Netanyahu and his allies celebrated the re-election of Donald Trump this month, a staunch ally of Israel but sometimes unpredictable.

In his first term of office, the Republican president-elect gave the Israeli leader a big victory.

In addition, Smotrich, who also plays the role of monitoring the defense ministry for settlers as part of his coalition deal with Netanyahu, said this week he hoped Israel would expand its sovereignty to the occupied West Bank by 2025. He will encourage the government to engage the upcoming Trump administration to gain Washington support.