The European Union agreed to impose sanctions on two leading members of Hilltop Youth, a radical Israeli group involved in deadly attacks against Palestinians in 2015 and 2023, as well as Ben-Zion Gopstein, the founder of Lehava, a radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group closely associated with Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir.
The sanctions, which include asset freezes and travel bans, are to be imposed by the E.U. Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, the European Council announced Friday.
The Hilltop Youth leaders, Meir Ettinger, 32, and Elisha Yered, 22, have both served time in Israeli detention for leading violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. Yered was most recently accused of “deliberate homicide” in the Aug. 4 shooting of 19-year-old Qusai Jamal Maatan in Burqa, a Palestinian village just west of Ramallah.
The E.U. has also blacklisted Neria Ben Pazi and Yinon Levi, who are both accused of leading repeated attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. Levi was placed under sanctions by the United States in February.
The sanctions, which include asset freezes and travel bans, are to be imposed by the E.U. Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, the European Council announced Friday.
The Hilltop Youth leaders, Meir Ettinger, 32, and Elisha Yered, 22, have both served time in Israeli detention for leading violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. Yered was most recently accused of “deliberate homicide” in the Aug. 4 shooting of 19-year-old Qusai Jamal Maatan in Burqa, a Palestinian village just west of Ramallah.
The E.U. has also blacklisted Neria Ben Pazi and Yinon Levi, who are both accused of leading repeated attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. Levi was placed under sanctions by the United States in February.
