US hits former Israeli military sergeant with visa restrictions

By Simon Lewis and Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The State Department on Wednesday barred a former Israeli Defense Forces sergeant from traveling to the United States, accusing him of being involved in the extrajudicial killing of a Palestinian in the West Bank.

Washington also imposed visa restrictions on a group of people involved in actions undermining peace, security and stability in the West Bank, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, in the latest U.S. measure over violence in the West Bank.

"This is about a broad trend of increased violence that we have sadly seen over the past months and the need for Israel to do more to hold people accountable for it," Miller told reporters.

Miller said the sergeant, Elor Azaria, was designated for his involvement in a gross violation of human rights. Azaria, who killed a wounded and incapacitated Palestinian assailant, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment in 2017. He was released after serving nine months.

The move comes after Washington in May found five units of Israel's security forces responsible for gross violations of human rights.

Israel has conducted "remediation" in the cases of four of the units in compliance with U.S. law prohibiting military assistance to security force units that commit such abuses and have not been brought to justice, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at the time.

Miller said that while the State Department found the steps were appropriate for remediation under Leahy Law requirements, the U.S. has to impose the sanctions if gross violations of human rights are committed, as in Azaria's case.

The Biden administration's moves against Israeli settlers have upset far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition, who support the expansion of Jewish settlements and ultimately the annexation of the West Bank.

Since the 1967 Middle East war Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state. It has built Jewish settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes this and cites historical and biblical ties to the land.

In February, the Biden administration said settlements were inconsistent with international law, signaling a return to long-standing U.S. policy on the issue that had been reversed by the previous administration of Republican Donald Trump.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Daphne Psaledakis and Jasper Ward; editing by Rami Ayyub and Leslie Adler)