Canada's crackdown on extremist Jewish settlers and their organizations
A deeper look at who and what are being sanctioned
When Canada announced its second round of sanctions of extremist Jewish settlers for attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, it received a fair amount of media coverage. The CBC News report below is an example.
The seven sanctioned settlers are odious racists. Some of these names are already subject to sanctions from the U.S. and the European Union.
Ben Zion Gopstein, a confidant/advisor of Israel’s criminal National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Gopstein’s organization, Lehava (also sanctioned), is an anti-Jewish assimilation organization.
Daniella Weiss, a long-time leader of the extremist settlement movement. Here’s a CNN report from earlier this year where Weiss’ articulates her repellent worldview.
Einan Ben-Nir Amram Tanjil, who has been sentenced to a fine and six months of community service after he attacked a left-wing Israeli Jew in the West Bank.
Elisha Yered, a former spokesman for a Kahanist Member of Knesset of the Otzmah Yehudit party (Ben Gvir’s party), was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of murdering a Palestinian in the village of Burqa.
Ely Federman, son of Hebron extremist Noam Federman, has been involved in violent confrontations with Palestinian shepherds in the south Hebron Hills.
Meir Ettinger has been the leader of the now-sanctioned Hilltop Youth, who establish colonial outposts to expand Israel control of the West Bank.
Shalom Zicherman was convicted in 2022 of attacking left-wing Jewish Israelis. He threw stones at the window of their car.
The three remaining organizations are:
Amana
Moshe’s Farm — an outpost used as a base by Moshe Sharvit to carry out violent attacks on Palestinians. Sharvit, according to the U.S. State Department, issued a “threat against the residents of the Palestinian village of Ein Shibli, and while armed, ordered them to leave their homes; this threat resulted in up to 100 Palestinian civilians fleeing their village in fear for their lives.”1
Zvi’s Farm — an outpost used as a base by Zvi Bar Yosef to carry out violent attacks on Palestinians and prevent Palestinian farmers from accessing and using their lands.2
Of these three, Amana is the most critical. Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group noted that Amana is “the most active entity behind settlement construction and specifically herding outposts that have been taking over vast swaths of West Bank land.”3
Amana’s website documents real estate opportunities for Israeli Jews throughout the occupied West Bank. One can click on the Alon Shvut settlement, founded in 1970, seeking “space that will afford you the opportunity to invest in what’s really important to you. The ‘Mitzpe HaYovel’ project offers you a different residential experience, giving you the time and space you need for the important things in life.”4
For Tel Zion, an ultraorthodox settlement north of Jerusalem, the project is sold out. According to Amana, “The project is built in three phases, Phase A and Phase B of 177 units sold and completed, Phase C of 209 units is in various construction stages. The first buildings are in the population phase and the last at the beginning of construction.”5
In late 2020, Peace Now, which documents the growth of settlements in the West Bank, wrote:
About two years ago, Peace Now revealed that the regional councils in the settlements transfer millions of shekels a year to Amana, a non-governmental organization that is considered one of the most powerful settlement bodies, working among other things to establish illegal settlement outposts. Following the exposure, Peace Now filed a petition to the High Court demanding that it stop the flow of millions of public funds to Amana.6
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly’s reasons for the sanctions are sound.
Attacks by extremist Israeli settlers—a long-standing source of tension and conflict in the region—undermine the human rights of Palestinians, prospects for a two-state solution and pose significant risks to regional security.7
It’s doubtful that these sanctions, by Canada or another Western country, will make a major difference to persuade Israel to abandon its fascist trajectory. Nor will they necessarily lead to a two-state solution for Israel-Palestine. But Canada deserves credit for taking action that will hopefully harm several terrible actors and their organizations.
The U.S. State Department’s announcement of sanctions against Jewish extremist settlers: https://www.state.gov/imposing-further-sanctions-to-promote-peace-security-and-stability-in-the-west-bank/
Ibid.
Zonszein posted this on X, formerly Twitter: https://x.com/MairavZ/status/1806356138406850950
Taken from Amana’s website on Alon Shvut: https://home.amana.co.il/en/alon-shevout/
Taken from Amana’s website on Tel Zion: https://home.amana.co.il/en/tel-zion-2/
See Peace Now: https://peacenow.org.il/en/the-pipeline-for-financing-illegal-activities-support-funds-for-the-amana-settler-association
See Canada’s release on the second round of sanctions: https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/06/canada-imposes-second-round-of-sanctions-on-perpetrators-of-extremist-settler-violence-against-civilians-in-west-bank0.html