Israel sanctions soldier who disrupted aid to Hamas
A soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who blocked aid to Hamas recently discovered his bank account had been frozen by Israeli authorities.
Shlomo Sarid is a reservist in the IDF who has been fighting Hezbollah near Israel’s Syrian border. He is also one of the co-founders of Tzav 9, an organization that opposes the delivery of “humanitarian aid” to Gaza while Hamas still holds Israeli hostages. It is an open secret that most if not all aid delivered to Gaza becomes the property of Hamas, the terror group that governs the Strip. Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s Security Agency, said in January 2024 that as much as 70% of aid that reaches Gaza is given to Hamas terrorists. Hamas then sells the fuel, food, water and other free items for a steep price to Gazans, providing Hamas with funds to pay terrorist's salaries. Nevertheless, Israel continues to ensure the regular delivery of supplies to Gaza.
Tzav 9 activists, which include family members of the hostages, have tried to block these deliveries. In June, the Biden-Harris administration placed the group under sanctions.
“For months, individuals from Tzav 9 have repeatedly sought to thwart the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including by blockading roads, sometimes violently, along their route from Jordan to Gaza, including in the West Bank,” the State Department said in a June 14th statement. “They also have damaged aid trucks and dumped life-saving humanitarian aid onto the road. On May 13, 2024, Tzav 9 members looted and then set fire to two trucks near Hebron in the West Bank carrying humanitarian aid destined for men, women, and children in Gaza.”
Joe Biden signed an executive order in February declaring a national emergency over “violence in the West Bank,” thereby allowing the US government to take action against Israelis.
Israel copies sanctions
Israel and the United States have no agreement that requires Israel to impose sanctions on its citizens if the US does so. Nevertheless, Israeli authorities have also sanctioned Tzav 9’s members in cooperation with the State Department. When Sarid recently returned from reserve duty, he tried to deposit a check at Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel’s major banks, and was refused.
“I’m here at the Bank Hapoalim branch in Bet She’an,” Sarid said in a video he took inside the bank. “I’m trying to do basic transactions that every customer can do through the banking app. I want to deposit a check and make a transfer. Unfortunately, because of the sanctions, I’m not able to do these actions.”
Sarid then issued a plea to the Israeli government to lift the sanctions, noting that Donald Trump will replace Joe Biden in two weeks. Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Hamas with “all hell to pay” unless the hostages are released by January 20th, is expected to lift sanctions placed on Israelis. It is unlikely that Israel will lift the sanctions before the Trump administration does so.
After he was sanctioned, Sarid urged the Israeli government to “wake up and defend its citizens” and said Tzav 9 would also focus on “fighting the draconian sanctions set by the American administration against legitimate protest activists within an independent, seemingly democratic ally, without basis, advance notice or an option to appeal.”
