Pinprick sanctions and empty threats: Why Netanyahu isn’t losing sleep

The European Union and the United States are threatening Israel with sanctions over its war on Gaza. But the measures are symbolic, the outrage is performative; and Netanyahu knows it.

When Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to collapse Netanyahu’s government over the possibility of food aid reaching starving civilians in Gaza, European leaders didn’t respond with outrage. They whispered about freezing his bank account. 

At the latest review by EU foreign ministers, 17 supported sanctions on Israel’s far-right ministers; 10 said no. The result? A limp consensus: deny a visa here, freeze an account there,  all while the bombs keep falling. These are not deterrents. They are diplomatic pantomimes. And Netanyahu? He isn’t flinching. He’s laughing. It’s a predictable ritual: Israel escalates. Gaza bleeds. The West wrings its hands. He laughs.

For all its talk of human rights and the rules-based order, the European Union has become adept at doing nothing. In response to Israel’s devastating war, which has killed tens of thousands, displaced nearly the entire population, and pushed Gaza to the brink of famine, Brussels offers gestures that border on parody.

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Rather than suspend trade or impose an arms embargo, the EU floated “restrictive measures” targeting Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The idea is to deny them visas and potentially freeze their bank accounts. As if these two men, open advocates of settler violence and ethnic cleansing, are desperate for a Paris weekend or a Barclays checking account.

Trade with Israel remains uninterrupted, even though Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement commits both parties to upholding human rights. That clause now lives in press releases, not policy.

The EU has demonstrated its ability to impose sanctions. It moved swiftly against Russia, Belarus, and Iran. But when it comes to Israel, the political will mysteriously evaporates, replaced by statements about “monitoring the situation closely.”

Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir are not marginal figures. They are central pillars of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition. Smotrich oversees not only Israel’s finances but much of its occupation policy in the West Bank. Ben Gvir commands Israeli police and is the public face of the settler movement.

Smotrich recently said he’d collapse the government if humanitarian aid were permitted into Gaza, yet the EU’s strongest reply is talk of a visa denial. This is a man who once called for Gaza to be “flattened,” and referred to Palestinian children as “little snakes.”

Ben Gvir, a disciple of extremist rabbi Meir Kahane, has made incitement and provocation his political brand. He champions arming settlers and shielding them from legal consequences. His rise is not an anomaly; it is a symptom of the far-right wave driving Israeli politics.

By singling out these two men for symbolic action, the EU tries to suggest Netanyahu is a reasonable leader held hostage by radicals. But this is fiction. Smotrich and Ben Gvir are not Netanyahu’s burden, they are his blueprint. Their extremism is the glue that holds his coalition together. Sanctioning them alone is like slapping a bandage on a bullet wound and calling it surgery. It is a theatre designed to placate European publics, not challenge Israel’s war machine.

While Western officials issue equivocal statements, others are naming the farce for what it is. Irish MEP Clare Daly   called the EU’s posture “an insult to the values we pretend to uphold,” accusing it of enabling war crimes behind humanitarian platitudes. Her colleague Mick Wallace put it more bluntly: “We sanction countries for far less than what Israel has done in Gaza. This is cowardice.”

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Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, writing in Haaretz, called the EU’s response “a diplomatic charade,” arguing that Europe prioritises political alliances over human rights. “They know what’s happening in Gaza,” he wrote, “but choose silence wrapped in statements.”

In the US, Peter Beinart and Yousef Munayyer have also condemned the hypocrisy. Beinart notes that Russia was swiftly punished for invading Ukraine, yet Israel continues to receive billions in aid. “The message,” Munayyer writes, “is that Palestinian lives are negotiable. The rules don’t apply when the perpetrator is a Western ally”. This is the crux: the West’s relationship with Israel is not based on accountability, it is based on alignment.

Israel is not a rogue partner. It is embedded in Western systems. A military outpost, a tech exporter, a surveillance innovator. A client state with benefits. The United States sends over $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel annually. European nations continue to sell weapons and collaborate with Israeli intelligence. From crowd-control tools to cyber weapons, much of what Israel develops through occupation is exported globally. Germany, citing “historical responsibility,”  has long blocked tougher EU action. But no nation can absolve one crime by underwriting another. Diplomatically, Israel serves as the West’s proxy in the Middle East. It amplifies anti-Iran messaging, aligns with anti-Islamist narratives, and reinforces a decades-old colonial framework. That’s why its war crimes are “regrettable,” but never actionable. When Russia bombs Ukraine, the West calls for tribunals. When Israel bombs Gaza, it calls for “restraint.” This is not just a double standard. It is the standard. And Israel knows how to exploit it.

Conclusion: Theatre without consequence

The West’s reckoning with Israel is a façade designed to soothe outrage without disrupting the status quo. When Netanyahu sees EU leaders agonise over visa bans while continuing arms cooperation and trade, he doesn’t feel pressure. He feels vindicated. Smotrich can threaten famine. Ben Gvir can stoke settler violence. And Netanyahu? He waits — and he laughs. Real pressure would mean suspending trade, ending arms sales, and referring Israeli leaders to the ICC. But instead, the West chooses statements over sanctions and spectacle over substance. Until words carry consequences, Israel will continue its war with impunity, and Gaza will continue to burn. The rules-based order? It ends where Israel begins.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.