Twin alerts on “Israeli Extremist Settler Violence Against Palestinians in the West Bank,” published last year, were rescinded Wednesday by the Treasury’s top financial crimes law enforcement unit, which effectively lessens reporting requirements on banks.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said it rescinded the orders – published on Feb. 1, 2024, and July 11, 2024 – following President Donald Trump’s (R) executive order signed Jan. 20. That order – known as “Initial Rescissions Of Harmful Executive Orders And Actions (Executive Order (EO) 14148) – rescinded EO 14115 from last year (by President Joe Biden [D]). That order was titled “Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West Bank.”
“As such, FinCEN is no longer requesting that financial institutions file suspicious activity reports (SAR) with the key term ‘FIN-2024-WBEXTREMISM,’” FinCEN wrote.
The 2024 order by Biden found that “high levels of extremist settler violence” had several effects on Palestinian areas in Gaza and the West Bank. “These actions undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom,” Biden’s order stated. “They also undermine the security of Israel and have the potential to lead to broader regional destabilization across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel and interests.”
The 2024 order blocked the transfer, payment for, export, withdrawal or other actions of any property in the U.S. of any person “responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in … actions-including directing, enacting, implementing, enforcing, or failing to enforce policies-that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the West Bank.”
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