Few people in the UK will have heard of Ze’ev Hever. A far-right member of the Jewish Underground in the early 80s, he was convicted in 1984 for attempting to place a bomb under the car of a Palestinian political leader. But in the years since, he has become more sophisticated and influential. He is now the secretary general of Amana, the development company behind some of the most violent settlements and outposts in the West Bank. Last week, the UK government announced that it will impose sanctions on Amana and six other groups that support West Bank settlers – a move that many moderate Israelis such as me welcome.

The No 1 priority of the international community should be to put pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire deal that would see the fighting end in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon and a return of the hostages. But the UK government is right to target the settlement movement in the West Bank: these entities are a serious threat to a peaceful future between Israelis and Palestinians. By imposing sanctions on violent settlers, the UK not only prevents settler violence in the short term, it sends a message that there are red lines and that the international community is losing its patience.

For the most part, settlers who commit acts of violence are not arrested, investigated or prosecuted. In fact, members of the current Israeli government have shown open support for extremist Israeli settlers who commit acts........

© The Guardian