The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two organizations on Friday for fundraising on behalf of two violent Israeli extremists in the West Bank.
The two groups -- Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich – established crowdfunding campaigns to raise thousands of dollars for Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai respectively. Both of those men were sanctioned by the US in February under a new executive order targeting those perpetrating violence in the West Bank.
At the same time, the State Department on Friday sanctioned Ben-Zion Gopstein, “the founder and leader of Lehava, an organization whose members have engaged in violence, including assaults on Palestinian civilians,” the Treasury Department said in a statement Friday.
The executive order, issued by President Joe Biden in early February, came amid increased violence in the occupied West Bank in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack. That violence has only continued in subsequent months.
The order angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who complained to the administration, calling it “inappropriate” and “highly problematic,” according to Axios.
Gopstein responded later on Friday, saying: “We overcame Pharaoh; we shall overcome Biden too,” which is his rephrasing of the commonly used expression said during Israel at Passover: "We overcame Pharaoh; we shall overcome this."
This post has been updated with comment from Ben-Zion Gopstein.