SINGAPORE – The Republic will impose financial sanctions and bar the entry of four Israeli individuals immediately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Nov 21.
The four individuals are Meir Mordechai Ettinger, Elisha Yered, Ben-Zion Gopstein and Baruch Marzel, whom MFA said have been involved in “egregious acts of extremist violence” against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“Such actions are unlawful and undermine and jeopardise prospects for a two-state solution,” said the ministry.
Stressing that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, MFA said their “presence and expansion will make it much harder” to arrive at a viable two-state solution.
As Singapore is a firm supporter of international law and the two-state solution, it opposes unilateral attempts to “change facts on the ground” through illegal acts.
“We call on the Israeli government to restrain acts of settler violence and to hold the perpetrators accountable,” it said.
Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had said in September that Singapore will impose targeted sanctions on the leaders of radical right-wing settler groups that have been responsible for acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The move followed the Israeli government’s decision to proceed with the E1 settlement in the West Bank, which will fragment the region, as well as threaten the contiguity of Arab towns in the occupied Palestinian territories, Dr Balakrishnan said
in his ministerial statement
.
According to information sourced from past news reports, all four men mentioned by MFA have far-right ties.
