Israeli official says EU sanctions reveal antisemitism hiding behind ‘socially acceptable mask’

Israel’s deputy foreign minister accused the European Union of weaponizing a “socially acceptable mask” of anti-Zionism to target Israel— after it sanctioned Israeli civil society groups that oppose a Palestinian state.It also sanctioned several individuals.

“We are witnessing a deeply troubling trend where traditional antisemitism has simply put on a new, socially acceptable mask: anti-Zionism,�“Where prejudice once targeted the individual Jew, it is now directed at the collective Jewish state and our fundamental right to live in our ancestral homeland.But make no mistake, the political targeting of Israel always bleeds into an assault on Jewish life itself,” Haskel added. 

TheEuropean Unionimposed the sanctions on four Israeli civil society organizations and three of their senior figures, alleging support for “settler violence” and claiming they undermine prospects for a Palestinian state — a move that Regavim, one of the groups targeted, described as an infringement on Israeli sovereignty.

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European Union-sponsored structures in Area C on the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria.

“Our entire activity consists of legal and parliamentary work.We collect and analyze information and policies and go to court and the legislature to highlight areas where Israel’s policy is either lacking or misguided,” Naomi Kahn, Regavim�

“The European Union is trying to control the internal political system and policies of an independent state that is supposed to be an ally.When we point out the absurdity of the situation, they don’t like it,” she said.

In its announcement, the European External Action Service (EEAS) stated that “extremist settlers and the organizations supporting them contribute directly to violence,forced displacementand dispossession across the West Bank.”

European Union flags blow in the wind outside the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, on Nov.27, 2019.(Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

The sanctions, according to the EEAS, “target entities and individuals that facilitate, finance or support activities contributing to settler violence and serious human rights abuses against Palestinians.”

The statement also accused Regavim of lobbying for “the demolition of Palestinian property” and referenced an EU-funded school in Jabbet al-Dhib near Bethlehem.

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Israeli lawmakers condemned a leaked EU document they say reveals illegal EU funding for a Palestinian state, citing construction of an unauthorized school in Area C, which they say violates the Oslo Accords.(Regavim)

Kahn said the school was constructed illegally on Israeli state land in Area C, within a nature reserve connected to the Herodian complex.She said legal proceedings were carried out regarding the structure and that it was ultimately demolished.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, negotiated during the Clinton administration, theWest Bank was dividedinto three areas: Area A, under full Palestinian control;Area B, under Palestinian civil authority with Israeli security control;and Area C, under full Israeli administrative and security control.

Kahn added that an engineering assessment found the school unsafe for use, arguing that placing students and teachers inside it posed “downright dangerous” conditions.

A view of the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, a region discussed by evangelical Christian leaders urging the Trump administration to recognize Israel’s claim to the area.(TPS)

“We pointed out that the EU and the Palestinian Authority are simply violating the law in a very purposeful, systematic way to take control of Area C using structures like schools, sometimes mosques, and homes of innocent people that they push into those areas,” she added.

Regavim has published a report claiming there are 100 illegal schools in Area C that it says are being used by the P.A.as part of a broader strategy of de facto annexation.

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Separately, a 2023 mapping study by Regavim estimated that roughly 103,000 unauthorized Arab-built structures exist across the West Bank, asserting that the P.A.— often with external support — has facilitated extensive illegal construction activity.

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The West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, is home to some 500,000 Israelis. (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

In response, Israel’s cabinet last month approved a set of broad measures aimed at countering efforts by the P.A.to establish de facto control over disputed territories.

Under the resolution, initiatives attributed to Ramallah to create a parallel land registry in Area C were declared to have no legal validity or standing.

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“The real target here is not violence, but legitimate political opposition.The sanctioned organizations do not support violent action;rather, they have consistently challenged the concept of a two-state solution and exposed how the EU actively buildsillegal structures in Judea and Samaria,” Haskel said, referring to the biblical names of the territories.

She accused the EU of disregarding the Oslo Accords and “attempting to unilaterally alter facts on the ground to steal Israeli land.”

Sharren Haskel, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Israel, accused the EU of disregarding the Oslo Accords and “attempting to unilaterally alter facts on the ground to steal Israeli land.”(@Sharren Haskel via X)

Haskel acknowledged there was an issue, as in any society, with some individuals who break the law, but emphasized they represent a small minority and that Israel investigates and prosecutes them.She said grouping hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Israeli residents in the West Bank together withHamas— a genocidal terror organization responsible for mass murder — distorts moral distinctions.

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She said, “This creates a false and dangerous symmetry that minimizes the exceptional threat of globalterrorismwhile politically targeting individual Israelis.It is an unacceptable moral equivalence that blurs the line between a sovereign democracy defending its people and the savage terror apparatus trying to destroy it.”

Amelie Botbol is a freelance journalist based in Tel Aviv.Her articles have appeared in the New York Post, Canada’s National Post, and the Washington Times.Amelie can be followed on X @DatReporter