Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway joined Britain in freezing the assets and imposing travel bans on Israel’s national security minister Ben-Gvir and finance minister Smotrich, both West Bank settlers.
Signalling a rare split with its close British ally, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that the U.S. condemned the move. He added it would not advance U.S.-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, end the war there and bring home hostages Palestinian Hamas fighters abducted from Israel 20 months ago.
“We reject any notion of equivalence: Hamas is a terrorist organisation… We remind our partners not to forget who the real enemy is,” Rubio stated, demanding a withdrawal of the sanctions.
British foreign minister David Lammy, in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of the other four nations, said Ben-Gvir and Smotrich had “incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. These actions are not acceptable.
“This is why we have taken action now to hold those responsible to account,” the statement added.
Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said the sanctions included targeted financial restrictions and travel bans.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, stated the action by the five countries was “outrageous” and the Israeli government would hold a special meeting early next week to decide how to respond.
