France and allies ban Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich from entry
newsJun 9, 202610154
France barred far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering its territory, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced. The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway joined France in imposing the ban and in targeting additional Israeli settler figures. Officials said the measures target those "responsible for the intensification of colonization and violence in the West Bank," including four settlement leaders and 21 additional settlers now barred from entry. The coordinated bans signal a Western rebuke of settler-driven expansion and will increase diplomatic pressure on Israel over its West Bank policies.
