American-Israelis sanctioned for violence in West Bank sue Biden administration

Two American-Israeli citizens sanctioned last year by the Biden administration due to violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, claiming their constitutional rights to due process and equal protection were violated.

Issachar Manne, sanctioned in July, and Levi Yitzchak Filant, sanctioned in August, are suing the US Treasury and State Departments, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the heads of these agencies in a federal court in Washington, according to public court records.

The US government alleged that Manne, a farm operator in the Hebron Hills, was involved in acts of violence against Palestinian civilians and efforts to seize Palestinian property.

The US accused Yitzhak Levi Filant, a civilian security coordinator at the illegal Yitzhar settlement, of leading a group of armed settlers in February to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols aimed at forcing Palestinians out of their land.

“Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel’s security, and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region,” said the US Department of State. “It is critical that the Government of Israel hold accountable any individuals and entities responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank.”

The sanctions froze the US assets of those targeted, denying them access to it, and generally bans Americans from dealing with them.

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Attorneys for the plaintiffs, representing the National Jewish Advocacy Centre (NJAC) alongside the Jerusalem-based Zell, Aron & Co. and Pennsylvania-based Marcus & Marcus law firms, argue that the settlers’ US citizenship exempts them from being subject to such sanctions.

According to the Times of Israel, the settlers’ legal team further argues that the Biden administration violated the Fifth Amendment rights of Issachar Manne and Levi Yitzchak Filant by imposing sanctions without a trial, denying them due process. They also claim that the executive order under which the sanctions were imposed is overly vague, referencing a 1972 US Supreme Court ruling cautioning against laws that fail to provide clear guidance and risk punishing innocent parties.

Moreover, the lawyers claim that Manne’s property in the occupied West Bank was legally acquired and that no Palestinians were dispossessed as alleged by the State Department. Similarly, they claim that Pilant’s actions, including setting up roadblocks and searching Palestinians, were legitimate security measures tied to his military duties, not acts of aggression or dispossession.

The legal team also accuses the administration of discriminatory enforcement of the February 2024 executive order, claiming that sanctions have not been applied to Palestinian groups accused of targeting Jewish civilians, but only to Jewish settlers accused of targeting Palestinians. This, they argue, violates their clients’ right to equal protection under the law.

The sanctions were imposed under an executive order on West Bank violence that President Joe Biden signed in February. It has been used to impose sanctions on a Palestinian resistance group as well as Jewish settlers and those supporting them.

The executive order, being a presidential measure, can be reversed by a future administration. Incoming President Donald Trump, who takes office on 20 January, has indicated a more favourable stance on the illegal West Bank settlements, similar to his policy during his first term. However, he has not yet stated whether he intends to lift the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on settlers.

Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, escalated to unprecedented levels in 2024, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said.

In a statement issued on 1 January, OCHA said that it has documented settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territories for about 20 years, and 2024 was the most violent with about 1,400 attacks recorded.