Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom have announced sanctions against far-right Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
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00:00We've heard from the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister this morning on these sanctions.
00:06Penny Wong saying this is a deliberate and considered action taken alongside a number
00:12of important partners and aiming to send a pretty strong message to Israel here by sanctioning
00:18two very senior cabinet ministers in the Netanyahu government.
00:23It's important to look at the countries that are involved here, Canada, the United Kingdom,
00:27New Zealand, Australia and Norway.
00:30That is four of the Five Eyes countries.
00:33The Five Eyes is those four countries plus the United States.
00:36The United States, of course, taking a different stance on this issue plus Norway, who are somewhat
00:41influential within Europe on issues relating to the Middle East.
00:45That grouping itself is designed to send quite a strong message to the Netanyahu government.
00:51We understand these sanctions have really been months in the making.
00:55The two specific individuals targeted here are Itamar Ben-Gavir and Bezamel Smotrich, the
01:01finance and national security ministers within the Netanyahu government.
01:06The Australian government has been quite keen to point out this morning that these sanctions
01:10are designed to target the Netanyahu government, not the people of Israel.
01:14Israel.
01:15That is a sort of important differentiation to make there.
01:18It's also important to note these sanctions are related to settlements in the West Bank,
01:23which the Netanyahu government has been encouraging in some senses, authorising new settlements in
01:28just the past couple of weeks or so.
01:31But the foreign minister says they should also be viewed in the context of the conflict in
01:37Gaza as well.
01:38As for what the sanctions will achieve, they effectively place travel bans on those two
01:43individuals, those two ministers, and also freeze any assets they hold in the countries
01:48that are taking these actions.
01:50But Penny Wong says the real impact of them is more in the statement that they make, the
01:55message that they send, rather than the practical implications.
01:58Here's a bit of what she had to say on this earlier this morning.
02:02Australia is a supporter of a two-state solution, and the reason consecutive Australian governments
02:08have supported two states is we believe that is the best way to assure peace and security
02:14for both Palestinians and for Israelis.
02:17These two ministers have been the most extremist and hardline of an extremist settler enterprise,
02:26which is both unlawful and violent.
02:27Now, as I mentioned before, the government has been quite keen to draw that differentiation
02:34between targeting the Netanyahu government and the nation of Israel itself.
02:38Of course, Australia has very strong diplomatic ties with Israel and has for quite some time.
02:44And Anthony Albanese, he spoke at length about the importance, the right that Israel has to
02:49exist as a nation and how Australia supports that going forward as part of a two-state solution,
02:55of course.
02:56But he spoke to that relationship allowing this conversation, this dialogue to be had, that
03:01it's important that friends can speak to each other about these important issues.
03:06Here's some of what he had to say on that earlier today.
03:09Sometimes, friends have to be clear with each other.
03:14We've been clear with the Israeli government about our concerns, which we've raised continuously,
03:22both privately and through previous statements that have been made by Australia, New Zealand
03:29and Canada, in particular with joint statements and this statement.
03:34We have made clear that makes our position very clear about these two ministers.
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