U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hit out at a decision by the U.K. and four other countries to impose sanctions on two far-right Israeli Cabinet ministers over their comments on Gaza.
“These sanctions do not advance U.S.-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and end the war,” Rubio said in a statement issued Tuesday night. “We remind our partners not to forget who the real enemy is. The United States urges the reversal of the sanctions and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel.”
The U.K., along with Norway, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, had earlier on Tuesday announced sanctions against Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have consistently been the most hard-line ministers in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and are crucial allies keeping him in power.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the sanctions move “outrageous” and said his government would meet early next week to decide how to respond.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also criticized the sanctions, calling them “an incredible overreach,” and warned that the U.S. “would have responded appropriately.”
Explaining the decision to impose sanctions on the two Israelis, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have been inciting violence against Palestinian people for months, and months and months, and months.”
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