Texas Christian organization sues Biden administration for anti-Israel sanctions

Texas-based pro-Israel advocacy groups and dual U.S.-Israeli citizens have filed a lawsuit challenging Democrat President Joe Biden's order subjecting individuals involved in settler opposition to Biden’s proposed “two state solution” in Judea and Samaria to financial and

immigration sanctions.

The complaint filed in Amarillo, Texas, federal court earlier this week says the executive order that Biden, a Democrat, issued in February violates the plaintiffs' free-speech rights under the U.S. Constitution and illegally interferes with the exercise of their religious beliefs.

The new lawsuit further claims that the order more broadly penalizes anyone who opposes the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"This is the first and only sanctions regime where an Administration has deemed ordinary, peaceful activities and reasonable political positions supported by many Americans as inimical to 'peace' and therefore sanctionable," said the plaintiffs.

The Biden administration’s recent sanctions policy targeting Jewish settlers in the West Bank has come under fire, with legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich highlighting the troubling aspects of this policy in a Wall Street Journal article titled “Biden’s Unconstitutional Sanctions on Supporters of Israel”.

According to reporting by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, Senior Reporter for our friends at Israel365News.com, Biden’s executive order allows for sanctions on individuals deemed to be undermining “peace” or “stability” in the West Bank, even without allegations of criminal conduct. This broad definition potentially targets Jews simply living, building homes, or visiting holy sites in the region.

Kontorovich points out the hypocrisy in the administration’s approach: “The Biden administration has been easing sanctions on Iran over the past year. Meanwhile, it is using a recent executive order to impose unprecedented sanctions on Jews in Israel who disagree with the administration’s policies.”

The sanctions pose a significant threat to free speech and due process rights. Organizations like Texans for Israel, which supports Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, now face potential financial risks for exercising their First Amendment rights.

The policy’s implementation has raised concerns about selective enforcement. While Palestinian violence in the region has increased, the sanctions have disproportionately targeted Jews. Even peaceful protesters like Reut Ben Haim, who opposes aid to Gaza that may benefit Hamas, have had their accounts frozen.

Kontorovich notes the stark contrast in treatment: “Vice President Kamala Harris raised money to bail out demonstrators during the sometimes-violent Black Lives Matter protests that rocked Minnesota in the summer of 2020. Yet members of Tzav 9 who protest against material support to Hamas, a U.S. designated terror organization, find themselves in the Biden administration’s crosshairs.”

The sanctions policy also puts American Jews living in the West Bank in an impossible situation. As Kontorovich explains, “if Mr. Abramowitz, who is not subject to sanctions, is ambushed again, he must choose between his safety and the possibility of financial ruin. Palestinians face no such threat.”

This policy not only endangers the lives of American Jews in the West Bank but also denies them equal protection under the law. The lawsuit aims to challenge these unconstitutional measures and protect the rights of Jewish communities in their historical homeland.

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump and one-time Christian legal activist whose court has become a favored destination for challenges to Biden administration policies.

In February, in a separate lawsuit, Kacsmaryk rejected the administration's bid to dismiss a lawsuit by a Republican congressman and three others seeking to block U.S. aid to the West Bank and Gaza that they said was unlawfully funding the Palestinian Authority.

The Capitol Switchboard is (202-224-3121), we urge CHQ readers and friends to call your Representative and Senators, tell them you demand they use the power of the purse to stop Democrats at the Biden – Harris White House and State Department from imposing sanctions on Americans and Israelis living in Judea and Samaria who oppose Biden’s nonsensical two state solution and are simply defending themselves from Palestinian terrorism.

• U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk

• American Jews living in the West Bank

• Reut Ben Haim

• Israeli West Bank Settlements

• The Texans For Israel

• Israel Hamas War

• October 7 attack

• Student protestors

• Two State solution

• No Higher education Assistance for Mobs of Antisemitic and terrorist sympathizing Students (No HAMAS) Act

• No Hamas Act

• student encampments

• violent protests

• Jewish students

• Hamas terrorists