France Bans Israeli Finance Minister, Settlers Over West Bank Violence

France has taken a firm stance against escalating violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank by banning Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and numerous Jewish settlers from its territory. The announcement came from French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who stated that these sanctions are aimed at individuals responsible for intensifying settlement activities and perpetrating violence against Palestinian civilians.

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France, alongside the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway, has adopted a new series of sanctions against those responsible for the intensification of colonization and violence in the West Bank.

In addition to Smotrich, France has barred four settler organization leaders and 21 violent settlers. Barrot indicated that Smotrich actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank, the establishment of new settlements, and policies that could economically destabilize the Palestinian Authority, with severe consequences for the Palestinian population. France views such policies as unacceptable, particularly given its commitment to the two-state solution.

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Bezalel Smotrich actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank, the creation of new settlements in this territory, the recolonization of Gaza, as well as policies likely to lead to the economic collapse of the Palestinian Authority, with devastating consequences for the Palestinian population.

This move by France aligns with similar sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway. The decision reflects a growing international concern over the rise in settler violence in the West Bank since Israel's occupation of the territory in 1967. International law considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal.

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Such a policy is unacceptable to the overwhelming majority of the international community, attached to the two-state solution.