Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister accused the European Union of weaponizing a “socially acceptable mask” of anti-Zionism to target Israel— after it sanctioned Israeli civil society groups that oppose a Palestinian state. It also sanctioned several individuals.
“We are witnessing a deeply troubling trend where traditional antisemitism has simply put on a new, socially acceptable mask: anti-Zionism,” Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told Fox News Digital. “Where prejudice once targeted the individual Jew, it is now directed at the collective Jewish state and our fundamental right to live in our ancestral homeland. But make no mistake, the political targeting of Israel always bleeds into an assault on Jewish life itself,” Haskel added.
The European Union imposed the sanctions on four Israeli civil society organizations and three of their senior figures, alleging support for “settler violence” and claiming they undermine prospects for a Palestinian state — a move that Regavim, one of the groups targeted, described as an infringement on Israeli sovereignty.
“Our entire activity consists of legal and parliamentary work. We collect and analyze information and policies and go to court and the legislature to highlight areas where Israel’s policy is either lacking or misguided,” Naomi Kahn, Regavim’s Director of International Division, told Fox News Digital.
“The European Union is trying to control the internal political system and policies of an independent state that is supposed to be an ally. When we point out the absurdity of the situation, they don’t like it,” she said.
In its announcement, the European External Action Service (EEAS) stated that “extremist settlers and the organizations supporting them contribute directly to violence, forced displacement and dispossession across the West Bank.”
The sanctions, according to the EEAS, “target entities and individuals that facilitate, finance or support activities contributing to settler violence and serious human rights abuses against Palestinians.”
The statement also accused Regavim of lobbying for “the demolition of Palestinian property” and referenced an EU-funded school in Jabbet al-Dhib near Bethlehem.
‘SQUAD’ MEMBERS ‘DECIDE TO LIE AND TWIST FACTS’ ABOUT ISRAEL’S HISTORY, SAYS PROMINENT ARAB ACTIVIST
Kahn said the school was constructed illegally on Israeli state land in Area C, within a nature reserve connected to the Herodian complex. She said legal proceedings were carried out regarding the structure and that it was ultimately demolished.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, negotiated during the Clinton administration, the West Bank was divided into three areas: Area A, under full Palestinian control; Area B, under Palestinian civil authority with Israeli security control; and Area C, under full Israeli administrative and security control.
Kahn added that an engineering assessment found the school unsafe for use, arguing that placing students and teachers inside it posed “downright dangerous” conditions.
“We pointed out that the E.U. and the Palestinian Authority are simply violating the law in a very purposeful, systematic way to take control of Area C using structures like schools, sometimes mosques, and homes of innocent people that they push into those areas,” she added.
Regavim has published a report claiming there are 100 illegal schools in Area C that it says are being used by the P.A. as part of a broader strategy of de facto annexation.
Separately, a 2023 mapping study by Regavim estimated that roughly 103,000 unauthorized Arab-built structures exist across the West Bank, asserting that the P.A.—often with external support — has facilitated extensive illegal construction activity.
SIGN UP FOR ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED NEWSLETTER
In response, Israel’s cabinet last month approved a set of broad measures aimed at countering efforts by the P.A. to establish de facto control over disputed territories.
Under the resolution, initiatives attributed to Ramallah to create a parallel land registry in Area C were declared to have no legal validity or standing.
“The real target here is not violence, but legitimate political opposition. The sanctioned organizations do not support violent action; rather, they have consistently challenged the concept of a two-state solution and exposed how the EU actively builds illegal structures in Judea and Samaria,” Haskel said, referring to the biblical names of the territories.”
She accused the EU of disregarding the Oslo Accords and “attempting to unilaterally alter facts on the ground to steal Israeli land.”
Haskel acknowledged there was an issue, as in any society, with some individuals who break the law, but emphasized they represent a small minority and that Israel investigates and prosecutes them. She said grouping hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Israeli residents in the West Bank together with Hamas — a genocidal terror organization responsible for mass murder — distorts moral distinctions.
She said, “This creates a false and dangerous symmetry that minimizes the exceptional threat of global terrorism while politically targeting individual Israelis. It is an unacceptable moral equivalence that blurs the line between a sovereign democracy defending its people and the savage terror apparatus trying to destroy it.”
Following several requests for comment, European External Action Service (EEAS) referred Fox News Digitial to its original sanctions statement.
Israeli official says EU sanctions reveal antisemitism hiding behind ‘socially acceptable mask’ 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-06-03 10:37:12 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
