They really ought to be doing more.  But in the scheme of things, the sanctioning of Israeli’s frothily fanatical ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich by New Zealand, Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom and Australia is a reminder to the Israeli government that ethnic cleansing, mass killing and the destruction of a people will receive some comment.  But a closer look at the trumpeted move does little to suggest anything in the way of change or deterrence, certainly not in Gaza, where the cataclysm continues without restraint.  

According to the joint statement, both politicians “have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.  Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous.”  The violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank had “led to the deaths of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of whole communities.” 

The reasoning for the imposition of such sanctions tends to minimise Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s zealous defence of programmatic and systematic displacement and removal of Palestinian existence in the Strip, despite the statement claiming that “this cannot be seen in isolation”.  The statement fails to note the warnings from the International Court of Justice that Palestinians in Gaza face the risk of genocide, with a final decision pending on the matter.  

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