US sanctions Lehava leader, fundraisers for violent settlers

• Published date: 19 April 2024
• Author: LEON KRAIEM
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

One entity, Mount Hebron Fund, launched an online fundraising campaign that raised $140,000 for settler Yinon Levi, Treasury said, after he was sanctioned on February 1 for leading a group of settlers that assaulted Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, burned their fields and destroyed their property. The EU Council separately sanctioned Levi today

Treasury said that the second entity, Shlom Asiraich, raised $31,000 on a crowdfunding website for David Chai Chasdai, who the United States says initiated and led a riot that included setting vehicles and buildings on fire and causing damage to property in Huwara, resulting in the death of a Palestinian civilian.

"Such acts by these organizations undermine the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank. We will continue to use our tools to hold those responsible accountable," Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in the statement.

US sanctions Ben-Zion Gopstein

Concurrently, the US State Department sanctioned Ben-Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of the Jewish extremist group Lehava, which was also sanctioned today by the EU, along with leaders of the so-called "hilltop youth," and what the EU referred to as "Hilltop Youth" itself.

"Under Gopstein's leadership, Lehava and its members...