The US embassy in Jerusalem is considering blacklisting Israelis suspected of perpetrating violence against Palestinians, according to a Thursday report by the Israel Hayom newspaper.
The newspaper said that adding those Israeli names to the list would make it difficult or even impossible to successfully apply for a visa to the United States.
Calling the step “unprecedented in its harshness,” the newspaper noted that the purpose of the policy consideration is to encourage the Israeli occupation government to work to limit potential violence, as well as reduce the willingness of Israelis to participate in violent incidents against Palestinians.
While general US visa regulations state that anyone who has committed violent acts or incited violence may not be eligible to enter the US, regardless of whether they have been prosecuted or not, these regulations have sparsely been used against Israelis.
“Visa applications are adjudicated on a case-by-case basis in accordance with all applicable law,” a State Department spokesperson told Middle East Eye (MEE).
“We have been clear about our deep concerns over the increase in Israeli-Palestinian violence.”
The US embassy in Jerusalem told Haaretz: “We do not comment on consular matters.”
However, the timing of this new policy – as Israel’s Right is set to take office following the Nov. 1 election – might not be coincidental, in part because of some of the violence associated with incoming cabinet ministers’ past activities, Israel Hayom said.
A top US official at the United Nations said on Monday that Washington expects to see “equal treatment” of Israeli and Palestinian violence in the occupied West Bank.
It is imperative that the parties take urgent action to reduce the troubling levels of extremist violence fueling instability in the West Bank,” Ambassador Robert Wood, alternative representative for special political affairs in the UN, said.
