The head of Germany’s Green Party has urged Berlin to join other countries in sanctioning Israeli far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir over accusations of inciting violence against Palestinians.
Franziska Brantner, co-leader of Germany’s second-largest opposition party, accused the two ministers of “openly calling for violence against the Palestinian population and long having propagated a policy of annexation and displacement.”
“These costs human lives, displaces entire communities, and poses enormous hurdles on the path to a peace process,” Brantner told the German Press Agency.
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Her remarks came after the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway announced on Tuesday that they had sanctioned Ben-Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, and Smotrich, the finance minister.
Both ministers are vocal supporters of expanding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and have condoned violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians.
Smotrich recently threatened the “total destruction” of the Gaza Strip, while Ben-Gvir has opposed the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to the war-torn Palestinian territory.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the five sanctioning countries accused Smotrich and Ben-Gvir of inciting “extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.”
The UK government said its sanctions include a travel ban and asset freeze. Norway also imposed a travel ban on the two ministers.
NAN
