Allies sanction far-right Israeli ministers
Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway have all imposed sanctions on two members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet today, marking the first time that western nations have ever sanctioned Israeli government ministers.
Israel’s far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, have “incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”, said UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, as he justified a move that will mean both men have their assets frozen and face travel bans.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have been vocal backers of Israel’s total aid blockade on Gaza and openly called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Ben-Gvir, 49, has insisted that allowing any food or medical supplies into the strip is a “serious and grave mistake” while Smotrich, 45, said last month that Israel will “destroy everything that’s left of the Gaza strip” and Palestinians will “leave in great numbers to third countries”.
Smotrich also led a cabinet vote last month to approve the creation of 22 new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank - considered illegal under international law - in the largest expansion of its kind in decades.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry described today’s move by western governments to sanction Ben-Gvir and Smotrich as “outrageous” and confirmed that Netanyahu’s Cabinet would meet next week to decide on “a response to this unacceptable decision”.
While this action is the first move of its kind, many will say that it is long overdue. As Josh Schlicht wrote in Reaction back in October 2024, David Cameron urged Lammy to sanction both men months ago, claiming that he himself had been preparing to take such action during his final days in his role as Foreign Secretary.
Despite Ben-Gvir and Smotrich holding top positions in Israel’s current cabinet, they were widely considered extremists in domestic political settings prior to their ascension to government.
Ben-Gvir is an ideological follower of a Brooklyn-born rabbi Meir Kahane, a violent fanatic whose party was banned from Israel in the 1970s and designated as a terrorist organisation. Ben-Gvir has been convicted several times of racist incitement and support for a terrorist group.
Smotrich came to prominence in 2005, following then-Israeli president Ariel Sharon’s decision to pull out of Gaza and remove settlers from the strip. Smotrich’s fierce opposition to Sharon’s policy resulted in his arrest on suspicion of planning violent protests. Smotrich also supports the creation of “Greater Israel” which entails the invasion and occupation of Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are fringe figures no more. In 2022, Netanyahu formed the most right-wing government in Israel’s history after brokering a coalition with Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party and the Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party.
If they quit, as both repeatedly threaten to do, Netanyahu’s government will fall.
As the Israeli PM desperately clings to its political career - and seeks to put off his looming corruption trial - by appeasing both men, it is not only Palestinians that suffer.
Ben-Gvir, for instance, has enacted sweeping police and gun reforms that - aside from helping to arm settlers in the West Bank - have also facilitated a heavy crackdown on Israel’s anti-government and anti-war protesters. The police force has come under criticism for even using violent riot dispersal methods against protesting families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Smotrich has contradicted the official IDF line by saying that there will be “no retreat from the territories we have conquered not even in exchange for hostages".
Both of Netanyahu’s freshly sanctioned cabinet ministers remain committed to blocking any ceasefire and, in the words of Smotrich, “conquering and cleansing” the Gaza Strip. And, for as long as Israel’s governing coalition - and the Prime Minister’s political survival - depends on both men’s support, they will continue to wield significant power.
Caitlin Allen
Deputy Editor
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