“The British, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and Norwegians have made a serious mistake. Allies do not put on sanctions on each other, even when there are disagreements,” Smotrich said the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday in his first interview since the announcement.
“This exceeds a red line.”
The participating countries have said that the sanctions in Magnitsky style, which impose travel bans and financial freezes on the two ministers, are “personal” and not in a broader sense against the Israeli government.
But Smotrich rejected that distinction and told the Jerusalem post that because his decisions “were made on behalf of Israel and the state is behind them”, every movement against him is related to the punishment of the citizens he represents.
Why was Smotrich sanctioned?
The statement in which the suspect sanctions announced Smotrich and Ben-Gvir From encouraging “extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights” and referred to rhetoric, the couple had dealt with “the forced relocation of Palestinians”.
Although it did not offer specific examples, the couple, which comes from the far right of Israeli politics and serves as power brokers in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has long argued for the establishment of new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
They also have a history of making dehumanious and controversial statements about Palestinians.
What did Israel say about the sanctions?
The Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the sanctions “scandalous” and said that his government would hold a meeting early next week to decide how to respond to the “unacceptable decision” of the five countries.
The ambassador of Israel in Australia Amir Maimon said it was a “completely unacceptable” decision.
“Serious questions must be asked about the motives behind the timing of this announcement,” he said.
The move was also criticized by the State Secretary of the United States Marco Rubio, who said that it does not “promote the US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire”.
In an interview with the ABC, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the reaction of the US and Israel as “predictable” and said that although Australia supports the rights of Israel to “live within safe boundaries”, the “must meet international worries and international law”.
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