(Washington, D.C., November 19, 2024) — On November 18, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions designations against Amana, an Israeli state-backed settlement organization with approximately $160 million in assets and thus far the largest and most prominent entity punished under President Biden's Executive Order establishing sanctions against violent West Bank settlers.
On November 8, 2024, DAWN submitted to the Treasury Department a detailed dossier urging sanctions on Amana, documenting Amana's instrumental role in facilitating land seizures and violence against Palestinians.
In response to the designation, DAWN issued the following statement:
"However overdue, this designation is a significant acknowledgment of Amana's central role in advancing land theft and settler violence against Palestinians," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN. "We commend the Biden administration for taking this important step but urge it to accelerate efforts to target other complicit Israeli organizations and state actors that promote and benefit from these systemic violations."
The designation comes with a wind-down period ending on January 10, 2025, allowing time to complete necessary transactions involving Amana and its subsidiaries before the sanctions take full effect. Wind-down authorizations are typically employed for major global entities with extensive financial ties to minimize unintended collateral impact on third parties, so it's unclear why the Biden Administration gave Amana this grace period. With the end date of Amana's wind-down just ten days before the transition to a new presidential administration on January 20, 2025, concerns remain regarding the survival of these sanctions designations. If the incoming administration swiftly removes sanctions on Amana, their impact will be negligible.
"OFAC should actively work to disrupt the financial operations of these malign actors," said Mohsen Farshneshani, sanctions advisor. "Effectively shielding Amana from the full impact of sanctions with a wind-down grace period until mere days before the inauguration signals a troubling willingness to tolerate ongoing Israeli impunity. These sanctions should remain and be enforced without compromise; anything less would embolden only more land theft and settler violence."
"The designation of Amana should send shockwaves through the Israeli financial markets because of the vast exposure it creates across the Green Line, across the Israeli economy, and even for state institutions," said Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, director of research for Israel-Palestine at DAWN. "Deterring continued settler violence against Palestinians would be much more effective if the Biden administration finds a way to make these sanctions more durable than an executive order that President Trump can revoke on day one of his administration."
DAWN will continue submitting sanctions referrals to world governments to drive changes in behavior necessary for achieving the just and peaceful long-term solution that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve. For more information on DAWN's work and the Amana designation, read our November 8, 2024 press release here.
