Dear Secretary Rubio,

We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the recent rise in settler violence in the West Bank and to urge the administration to take immediate action in response.

The situation has reached a breaking point. In the first month of the war with Iran alone, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented more than 150 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage across approximately 90 communities in a matter of weeks, averaging over six attacks every day. At least 13 Palestinians have been killed by settler violence so far this year, including at least one who is an American citizen. Displacement due to settler violence in early 2026 has already exceeded the total for all of 2025. This is not a slow-moving crisis. It is an emergency.

The European Union has responded. EU foreign ministers decided on May 11 to impose targeted sanctions on four settler organizations. Their decision represents the most significant multilateral accountability measure to date. The organizations sanctioned are: Amana, the powerful financial engine behind illegal outposts and settler farms; HaShomer Yosh, which deploys volunteers, many of them teenagers, to occupy illegal agricultural outposts and systematically expel Palestinian farmers; Regavim, which uses legal and political pressure to drive Palestinian demolitions and dispossession; and Nachala, which openly organizes and funds the establishment of illegal outposts. The EU also sanctioned three individuals leading these organizations: Avichai Swissa of HaShomer Yosh, Meir Deutsch of Regavim, and Daniela Weiss of Nachala.

Our closest allies are stepping up. You yourself have expressed concern about settler violence, and President Trump has expressed opposition to changes in the status quo in the West Bank. We take those statements seriously. But words have not been matched with action. The United States has imposed no measures against the organizations responsible for this violence. We are asking you to act.

The United States sanctioned Amana and HaShomer Yosh directly in 2024, finding that each bore direct responsibility for settler violence and Palestinian dispossession. And while Regavim itself was not directly sanctioned, the United States sanctioned Tzav 9, an organization that Regavim supported and funded, over its role in blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza. All of those U.S. designations (along with the Executive Order allowing for the settler violence sanctions) were revoked on the first day of this administration.

The decision to revoke those sanctions was made more than one year ago. Since then, the situation on the ground has deteriorated dramatically. The violence that was already alarming in early 2025 has exploded in 2026. The organizations that were sanctioned then are more active, more emboldened, and more destructive now. We urge the administration to reevaluate that decision in light of what has unfolded since.