He then pointed to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s reported efforts to block enforcement against illegal settlement construction and his withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority and asked US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf whether those constitute actions that destabilize the West Bank.
Leaf agreed that they did, predictably leading Van Hollen to ask why the US hasn’t gone on to sanction Smotrich.
The assistant secretary of state responded that the administration does not publicly discuss who it’s considering sanctions against, ending the line of questioning.
Privately, though, the idea has been raised by senior Biden aides in recent weeks, as alarm and frustration in Washington peak over the potentially imminent collapse of the PA, a US official told The Times of Israel, noting that Ramallah cannot continue to pay its employees without the tax revenues being withheld by Smotrich.
Such a step has never been taken against an Israeli minister, and the US official acknowledged that it is unlikely to be seen through. But the fact that it is even being considered highlights how concerned the US is about the possibility that Ramallah will stop functioning. READ MORE