Amana, led by Ze'ev "Zambish" Hever, supports illegal settlement outposts that orchestrate violent attacks against Palestinians
(Washington, D.C., November 7, 2024) — The U.S. Departments of State and Treasury should impose sanctions on the Israeli settlement organization Amana and its leadership, including Executive Director Ze'ev "Zambish" Hever, for supporting the establishment of illegal settlements, settler violence and the intimidation and forcible displacement of Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, said DAWN today.
"The very least the U.S. can do, as Canada and the U.K. have done, is sanction this reckless, lawless organization given its central role in building violent settlement outposts terrorizing Palestinians in the West Bank," said Mohsen Farshneshani, DAWN's sanctions advisor. "President Biden has clearly prescribed sanctioning entities like Amana, whose fraud and malign conduct in the West Bank undermines U.S. national security interests in maintaining peace and security in the region."
In its 18-page submission to the State and Treasury Departments, DAWN presents comprehensive evidence of Amana's central role supporting, funding, and organizing the proliferation of settlement "farm outposts" in the West Bank that serve as de-facto launchpads for settler-led violence, and the forcible displacement and dispossession of Palestinian civilians. Sanctioning Amana and its leaders would significantly increase pressure on Israeli authorities to address settler violence and dismantle the structural enablers behind it.
On February 1, 2024, President Biden issued Executive Order 14115, "Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West Bank," which describes violent settler activities as a threat to U.S. national security interests. The executive order enables the designation of individuals or entities providing financial or material support to violent actors forcibly displacing Palestinians in the West Bank.
Amana has had a long legacy of pursuing systematic seizures of Palestinian land and dispossession of Palestinians through fraudulent tactics. Since its founding in 1978, Amana has played a central role in forcibly displacing Palestinians and seizing privately owned land. It receives financial support from at least six Israeli government ministries. As detailed in DAWN's submission, there is extensive evidence documenting Amana's role in fraudulent real estate schemes orchestrated by Amana's subsidiary, Al-Watan. For example, between 2003 and 2014, Amana falsified documents to illegally take possession of Palestinian land and establish settlements like Migron, Givat Asaf, Amona, and Givat Ha'ulpana.
"Israeli settlements and the violence they produce are Israeli state policy, evidenced by the funding government bodies provide organizations like Amana," said Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, director of research for Israel-Palestine at DAWN. "Sanctioning Amana will send a clear message that the U.S. comprehends how deep the roots of settler violence go and it isn't afraid of punishing them wherever they may reach."
Amana also provides critical financial, logistical, and legal support for settlers involved in displacing Palestinian civilians with violence and intimidation. DAWN's submission provides extensive evidence of how Amana has provided funding and resources to establish the infrastructure for violent settlement "farm outposts," including to Meged Ha'aretz Farm and Avraham Farm in 2018. These settlements and others like them serve as platforms for violent attacks designed to drive Palestinians off their lands.
Amana has also provided material support to settlers sanctioned under the Executive Order, in further violation of the order. In 2020 and 2021, Amana was party to contracts providing material support to Zvi Bar Yosef and Yanon Levi, both sanctioned under EO 14115 for violence against Palestinian civilians. In these contracts, Amana agreed to assist with farm operations, assumed obligations for contract implementation, and retained authority to appoint an arbitrator in the event of disputes. Moriah Sharvit, wife of sanctioned settler Moshe Sharvit, boasted in an interview with the New Yorker that Amana provided a water line to their illegal outpost.
Ze'ev "Zambish" Hever has led Amana's decision-making to pursue its illegal expansionist schemes and support settler violence in the West Bank. On February 21, 2021, as Executive Director of Amana, Hever publicly acknowledged the organization's role in establishing over 30 illegal shepherding settlement outposts explicitly designed to seize Palestinian land. A former member of the terrorist organization Jewish Underground with a criminal record for violent plots, Hever has led Amana's systematic efforts to forcefully and often violently dispossess and displace Palestinians. Despite existing sanctions under EO 14115, Amana has not halted its support for dispossession schemes or severed ties with U.S.-designated settlers.
"The U.S. government should aggressively escalate its sanctions to target high-value institutions that materially support and sustain Israeli expansionist ambitions," said Mohsen Farshneshani, DAWN's sanctions advisor. "Achieving meaningful results requires disrupting financial normalcy—something the Biden administration initiated almost overnight following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but has yet to do in this context."
Sanctioning institutional stakeholders like Amana should be part of the U.S. government's broader approach to addressing Israeli settler violence under EO 14115. Despite Israel's minimal law enforcement efforts to prosecute settler crimes, the documented activities of Amana and its leadership fall clearly within the scope of EO 14115. DAWN's submission aligns with its previous appeals in which it urged the U.S. to target the organizations and financial networks that facilitate ongoing violence and dispossession of West Bank civilians.
"Amana should be treated just like any other malign entity involved in destabilizing activities in the Middle East," said Raed Jarrar, DAWN's director of advocacy. "Sanctioning Amana aligns with U.S. foreign policy goals and sends a long-overdue message that the age of Israeli impunity is over."
DAWN encourages the U.S. government to explore all available legal options, including potential war crimes investigations and human rights sanctions, against Israeli military and security bodies complicit in settler violence. Such actions are essential to hold accountable those responsible for driving instability and violence in the West Bank.
