Biden Expands Sanctions Against Israelis, Schumer Calls Out Netanyahu

US President Joe Biden’s administration recently announced new sanctions for Israeli individuals and entities on March 14.

President Biden had already directed his administration to sanction certain Israeli individuals for their acts in the West Bank. 

The individuals named in the sanctions package were allegedly making “threats of violence against civilians, intimidating civilians to cause them to leave their homes, destroying or seizing property, or engaging in terrorist activity in the West Bank.” 

The new sanctions expand upon the previous ones by targeting certain Israeli individuials allegedly involved in fostering violence in the West Bank.

Those individuals are Israeli settlers West Bank outposts.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) simultaneously called for new parliamentary elections in Israel. 

Senator Schumer referred to Israeli leaders as “bigots” who do not agree with a two state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Specifically, Schumer took to the Senate floor to criticize Prime Minister Netanyahu. 

“The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. The world has changed, radically, since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,” said Schumer.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) pushed back against the idea of a two state solution.

Senator Rubio asked “If a two-state solution were the answer, who other than Hamas terrorists would govern a Palestinian state?” 

Rubio also criticized Biden‘s decision to sanction Israeli citizens.

Rubio responded to Biden’s initial wave of sanctions by inquiring upon the president’s failure to remove Hamas supporters from US soil. 

“When are you going to start deporting foreigners here on a visa who support Hamas?” asked Rubio via X. 

Last October, Rubio filed a resolution calling for the cancellation of visas of foreign nationals supporting Hamas.