Financing of Israeli extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank is the subject of an alert issued to U.S. banks and other financial institutions Thursday by the Treasury’s financial crimes enforcement agency.
The alert came on the heels of an executive order issued Thursday by President Joe Biden (D) imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in violence on the West Bank. The order blocks settlers from accessing the U.S. financial system and any assets they have in the U.S.
The alert issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) “provides select red flags to assist U.S. financial institutions in identifying and reporting suspicious activity that finances such violence,” the agency said in a release.
According to FinCEN, financial institutions play a critical role in detecting and reporting potential suspicious activity related to the financing of Israeli extremist settler violence. The agency asserted that the U.S. financial system should be protected “from those who seek to support or perpetrate violence and bring further instability to the West Bank.”
The alert also notes that Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is highlighting that the U.S. government is authorized to impose sanctions on foreign persons who are “responsible for or complicit in, or have directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in (1) actions that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the West Bank; or (2) planning, ordering, otherwise directing, or participating in specified actions affecting the West Bank, such as violence targeting civilians and property destruction.”
“The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those engaged in such activities, as well as to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse,” FinCEN stated.
FinCEN Issues Alert on Israeli Extremist Settler Violence Against Palestinians in the West Bank