Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

June 13, 2025

Sanctions against Israeli Ministers Violate Good Sense and Diplomatic Norms

Crossing a line.

When considering how to combat the Muslim Brotherhood, the Trump administration should keep in mind that, to serve as a useful tool of foreign policy, sanctions should have a legal basis, not simply express the preferences of a given government. This would also be good advice for Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway, which recently announced personal sanctions on Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and its internal-security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. The editors of the Jerusalem Post explain the hypocrisy and illogic behind this unprecedented measure, which, they write, “marks a striking departure from longstanding diplomatic norms” and betrays an unhealthy obsession with Israel’s internal affairs:

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