The US Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this evening (Wednesday) that Elor Azaria and his family members are not allowed to enter the country’s territory. “We are taking additional steps today to promote accountability for blatant violations of human rights and other actions that undermine peace, security and stability in the West Bank.” The statement of the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Washington, Matthew Miller, also states that “Elor Azaria is a former sergeant in the IDF… who was involved in a blatant violation of human rights, that is, in the extrajudicial killings in the West Bank. As a result of this action (the imposition of the sanction, in s), Azaria and his close family members are not, as a general rule, eligible to enter the US.
Miller added that the US will impose restrictions on another group of people who were involved in the destabilization of the West Bank, although he did not name them. to take our own actions to promote accountability.”
The entry ban imposed on Azaria and his family is apparently the first time that a foreign government official defined an act committed by an Israeli citizen as “killing without trial.” This is a precedent, because the US State Department relied on the imposition of the ban on the existing federal law in the US, and not on the presidential order allowing the imposition of new sanctions on settlers who are involved in attacks once morest Palestinians in the West Bank, which was signed by President Joe Biden in February. According to US law, Azaria Acted as part of a government arm in his role as a soldier with the rank of sergeant in the IDF, and the US may use this law to impose additional sanctions on other figures in Israel.
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Supporters of Elor Azaria on the day of his release from prison following his sentence was shortened, in 2018. to enter the territory of the country. Miller added that the US will impose restrictions on another group of people who were involved in destabilizing the West Bank Photo: Ilan Assig
Supporters of Elor Azaria on the day of his release from prison following his sentence was shortened, in 2018. to enter the territory of the country. Miller added that the US will impose restrictions on another group of people who were involved in destabilizing the West Bank Photo: Ilan Assig
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Azaria was convicted of killing a wounded terrorist in Hebron in 2016. Azaria, who served as a company medic in the Shimshon Regiment in the Kafir Brigade, was called to the scene of the attack following his fellow company member was stabbed by two Palestinians – one of whom was shot and killed, and the other, Abdel-Fattah al-Sharif, was wounded by six bullets . About 11 minutes following the attack, Azaria fired one bullet at A-Sharif’s head.
The military court sentenced Azaria to 18 months in prison, stating that he did not shoot out of a sense of danger, but because he decided that “a terrorist deserved to die.” The Court of Appeal rejected his appeal once morest the conviction and the severity of the sentence. The prosecution’s appeal was also rejected. His sentence was shortened by a third by the parole board and he was released in May 2018.
Last week, the US imposed sanctions on the Lahava organization, on some farm outposts in the West Bank, as well as on activists in the Order 9 movement – whose activists have in recent months blocked trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. The spokesman for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, said that the US is very concerned regarding settler violence and the instability in the West Bank, and added that “we encourage Israel to take immediate measures once morest these entities, in their absence – we will continue our steps”.
A Palestinian truck driver who, according to a security source, was beaten by settlers because they thought he was carrying humanitarian aid, in the Givat Assaf area
At the beginning of the week, the European Union imposed sanctions on the far-right activists Baruch Merzel and Bentzi Gofstein, on the Order 9 organization and on West Bank farm outposts. The Union also imposed sanctions on the settlers Moshe Sharvit and Zvi Bar Yosef, claiming that they are involved in violence once morest Palestinians. According to the EU announcement, those who have been included in the sanctions list are prohibited from entering the EU, their assets in the EU will be frozen, and the supply of funds to them will be prohibited.
Israel fears that the trend of sanctions on individuals and organizations related to the settlements will grow stronger in the coming weeks, following the International Court of Justice publishes a decision in a case dealing with the question of the legality of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank according to the rules of international law.
