Today, OFAC designated Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich for being foreign persons who are responsible for or complicit in, or who 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, and for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, persons blocked pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14115. Following the February 1, 2024 designation of David Chai Chasdai, Shlom Asiraich established an online fundraiser for the benefit of Chasdai, who was also designated pursuant to E.O. 14115 for being responsible for or complicit in, or for having 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. Chasdai initiated and led a riot, which involved setting vehicles and buildings on fire, assaulting Palestinian civilians, and causing damage to property in Huwara, which resulted in the death of a Palestinian civilian. Shlom Asiraich’s fundraiser for Chasdai’s benefit reportedly raised the equivalent of $31,000 before it too was removed from the crowdfunding website. Shlom Asiraich’s fundraiser specifically noted that it was raising the money following the imposition of sanctions on, and the administrative detention of, Chasdai. Shlom Asiraich is an Israel-registered non-profit organization based in the West Bank that has also raised funds for other imprisoned violent extremists who share the group’s ideology, including Yigal Amir, who assassinated former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, and Amiram Ben Uliel, who was convicted in 2020 for the killing of a Palestinian couple and their baby in an arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma in 2015.
Executive Order 14115 of February 1, 2024 Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West Bank
Regime
OFAC country specific
Target State
West Bank
Measures
Blocking Property, Suspending Entry
Official Information
The United States has consistently opposed actions that undermine stability in the West Bank and the prospects of peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike. This includes attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and Palestinian attacks against Israelis. There is no justification for extremist violence against civilians, whatever their national origin, ethnicity, or religion.
The United States has therefore implemented new measures to address actions that undermine peace, security, and stability in the West Bank. This follows the related visa restriction policy announced by the State Department on December 5, 2023.
The United States has taken action against persons connected to escalating violence against civilians in the West Bank. The Department of State is imposing financial sanctions on four individuals pursuant to a new Executive Order that President Biden announced today to promote accountability for certain harmful activities that threaten the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank. The Executive Order establishes U.S. authority to issue financial sanctions against those directing or participating in certain actions, including acts or threats of violence against civilians, intimidating civilians to cause them to leave their homes, destroying or seizing property, or engaging in terrorist activity in the West Bank.
