He signed an executive order on Thursday, saying violence had reached “intolerable levels”.
The sanctions will block the individuals from accessing all US property and other assets.
Violence in the West Bank has spiked since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel.
It’s a start.
It has been political suicide in the past to criticize Isreal. They are also an incredibly important strategic ally in the region, both militarily and commerce.
This move shows that the US is potentially willing to move away from unconditional support, which could be devastating to Isreal.
So, while the actual scope of the sanctions themselves is unimpressive, the meaning behind it is significant.
Sure, you’re not wrong, but I’m really really tired of getting ‘it’s a start’ action on issues like this and the irreversible change of the climate. There’s a very real timer ticking on both these issues if nothing changes and based on history I’m really skeptical were getting anything but another ‘its a start’ on some other small facet of this issue, ad nauseam until it’s not an election year.
Skepticism is always healthy, but try not to wade too far into cynicism.
International relations are very complicated, and even if it would be satisfying to have fast and heavy responses, I can also understand the cautious approach in this case. As you say, it’s an election year. It would not do Palestinians much good to have a reactionary response poison the well, just to the Republicans win all levels of government and screw up the region far worse, in addition to abandoning Ukraine.