Rabbis for Human Rights
Countries friendly to Israel are now saying clearly what the Israeli government refuses to say. 260611
France has announced sanctions against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, along with dozens of settlers and heads of organizations involved in advancing the settlements and the violence in the West Bank. Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway have joined similar measures against organizations and activists identified with the far right and with settler violence.
The sanctions include entry bans, asset freezes, and restrictions on fundraising and public activity. This is an extraordinary step from countries that are among Israel’s closest allies.
We need to be clear about what this means: the world is not imposing sanctions simply to criticize Israel, but because they see settler violence, Jewish terror, and annexation becoming official policy. They see how the government extends political backing to those who harm Palestinians, seize land, and undermine a just rule of law.
The settlements in the West Bank are not only a violation of international law. They also run counter to the values of justice, compassion, and equality on which Jewish tradition rests. You cannot speak in the name of Judaism while supporting dispossession, violence, and the supremacy of one people over another.
The sanctions are a warning sign. They reveal the depth of the moral, political, and diplomatic crisis into which the Israeli government is dragging the country.
But Paris and London will not change this reality, and they should not have to be the ones to name it. That responsibility belongs to all of us who carry the Jewish tradition and refuse to see it betrayed. Now more than ever, Israel needs Jewish allies and people of conscience around the world to recognize what is happening, to say so plainly, and to stand with those working to change it.
Only Israel can stop the violence, resist the occupation and the settlements, and return to its moral and democratic path. But it will not walk that path alone. Diaspora communities who love this place and refuse to look away are part of this struggle, and your voice carries further than you think.
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Michael Adler
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Can you give us citations of specific statutes and/or international case law precedents to back up your statements about “settlements” and “violation of international law”?
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Allison Tazallie Carroll
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I and so many others here in Britain want our government to go further, that this is not enough. We need to be exerting maximum pressure on the Israel. And you are so right that the only ones who can change this are the Israelis both there and around the world, but sadly far too many are still looking away, are still unwilling to open their eyes and see the truth of their actions. But it is so heartening to see that there are many in the Jewish community world wide who do see and are working to effect the change that’s needed. I truly believe that things will change, I’m just not sure when and at what cost.
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Stephen Sposato
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It is diaspora communities that have made the genocide possible and they can stop it in short order. That they won’t will be remembered for centenaires to come.
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Alison Sandy
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Thank you for speaking out. I am the daughter of a holocaust survivor and am horrified at what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza.
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Debra Dolinsky Riseman
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Never too late even if there is a lot of catching up to do. It’s a miracle that it’s finally being openly talked about. Many in Israel see it and many in the diaspora as well, but not enough understand that no place is perfect, as is no person as well. And some decisions on all sides have, over the years, made a difficult situation even more difficult. Killing is not a solution.
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Evangelos Rizopoulos
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You are amazing in your efforts and I am so grateful for people like you. Really.
But do you think Israel has been a democratic and moral state before this government?
The world is beginning to have a different understanding. That Israel was founded on the systematic suppression, expulsion and dispossesion of Palestinians. From the beginning.
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Mark Hale
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Knowing who Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are, and what they represent, we need to hear a lot more people call them out. They are an existential threat not just to Palestinians and other neighbors. They are an existential threat to Israel. No one can stand for Israel’s violent extremists and for humanity at the same time. Silence is unbecoming!
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Feral Cat
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This is excellent news, and the more voices that are added the more powerful the resistance becomes. Evil will never win.
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Reg Crowder
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Rabbis for Human Rights Thank you for doing what you can to help the people of Palestine. I support and applaud your important work. It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.
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Brenda Wallace
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Thank you for your courage. As a Christian priest and a regular pilgrim to Jerusalem, my heart bleeds at the current situation. I find it so hard to understand that the descendants of those who were brutalised by the Holocaust, are meteing out the same brutality on Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim.
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