Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister accused the European Union of weaponizing a «socially acceptable mask» of anti-Zionism to target Israel— after it sanctioned Israeli civil society groups that oppose a Palestinian state. It also sanctioned several individuals.

«We are witnessing a deeply troubling trend where traditional antisemitism has simply put on a new, socially acceptable mask: anti-Zionism,» Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told Fox News Digital. «Where prejudice once targeted the individual Jew, it is now directed at the collective Jewish state and our fundamental right to live in our ancestral homeland. But make no mistake, the political targeting of Israel always bleeds into an assault on Jewish life itself,» Haskel added. 

The European Union imposed the sanctions on four Israeli civil society organizations and three of their senior figures, alleging support for «settler violence» and claiming they undermine prospects for a Palestinian state — a move that Regavim, one of the groups targeted, described as an infringement on Israeli sovereignty.

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«Our entire activity consists of legal and parliamentary work. We collect and analyze information and policies and go to court and the legislature to highlight areas where Israel’s policy is either lacking or misguided,» Naomi Kahn, Regavim’s Director of International Division, told Fox News Digital.

«The European Union is trying to control the internal political system and policies of an independent state that is supposed to be an ally. When we point out the absurdity of the situation, they don’t like it,» she said.

In its announcement, the European External Action Service (EEAS) stated that «extremist settlers and the organizations supporting them contribute directly to violence, forced displacement and dispossession across the West Bank.»

European Union flags blow in the wind outside the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, on Nov. 27, 2019. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

The sanctions, according to the EEAS, «target entities and individuals that facilitate, finance or support activities contributing to settler violence and serious human rights abuses against Palestinians.»

The statement also accused Regavim of lobbying for «the demolition of Palestinian property» and referenced an EU-funded school in Jabbet al-Dhib near Bethlehem.

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Israeli lawmakers condemned a leaked EU document they say reveals illegal EU funding for a Palestinian state, citing construction of an unauthorized school in Area C, which they say violates the Oslo Accords. (Regavim)

Kahn said the school was constructed illegally on Israeli state land in Area C, within a nature reserve connected to the Herodian complex. She said legal proceedings were carried out regarding the structure and that it was ultimately demolished.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, negotiated during the Clinton administration, the West Bank was divided into three areas: Area A, under full Palestinian control; Area B, under Palestinian civil authority with Israeli security control; and Area C, under full Israeli administrative and security control.

Kahn added that an engineering assessment found the school unsafe for use, arguing that placing students and teachers inside it posed «downright dangerous» conditions.

A view of the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, a region discussed by evangelical Christian leaders urging the Trump administration to recognize Israel’s claim to the area. (TPS)

«We pointed out that the E.U. and the Palestinian Authority are simply violating the law in a very purposeful, systematic way to take control of Area C using structures like schools, sometimes mosques, and homes of innocent people that they push into those areas,» she added.

Regavim has published a report claiming there are 100 illegal schools in Area C that it says are being used by the P.A. as part of a broader strategy of de facto annexation.

Separately, a 2023 mapping study by Regavim estimated that roughly 103,000 unauthorized Arab-built structures exist across the West Bank, asserting that the P.A.—often with external support — has facilitated extensive illegal construction activity.

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The West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, is home to some 500,000 Israelis.  (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

In response, Israel’s cabinet last month approved a set of broad measures aimed at countering efforts by the P.A. to establish de facto control over disputed territories.

Under the resolution, initiatives attributed to Ramallah to create a parallel land registry in Area C were declared to have no legal validity or standing.

«The real target here is not violence, but legitimate political opposition. The sanctioned organizations do not support violent action; rather, they have consistently challenged the concept of a two-state solution and exposed how the EU actively builds illegal structures in Judea and Samaria,» Haskel said, referring to the biblical names of the territories.»

She accused the EU of disregarding the Oslo Accords and «attempting to unilaterally alter facts on the ground to steal Israeli land.»

Sharren Haskel, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Israel accused the EU of disregarding the Oslo Accords and «attempting to unilaterally alter facts on the ground to steal Israeli land.» (@Sharren Haskel via X)

Haskel acknowledged there was an issue, as in any society, with some individuals who break the law, but emphasized they represent a small minority and that Israel investigates and prosecutes them. She said grouping hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Israeli residents in the West Bank together with Hamas — a genocidal terror organization responsible for mass murder — distorts moral distinctions.

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She said, «This creates a false and dangerous symmetry that minimizes the exceptional threat of global terrorism while politically targeting individual Israelis. It is an unacceptable moral equivalence that blurs the line between a sovereign democracy defending its people and the savage terror apparatus trying to destroy it.»

Following several requests for comment, European External Action Service (EEAS) referred Fox News Digitial to its original sanctions statement.

A Senate Appropriations Committee hearing was derailed Tuesday after Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin got into a heated exchange, prompting the Democrat to tell Mullin to «calm down.»

Van Hollen, who is best known for flying to El Salvador to meet with controversial illegal immigrant and alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of having a «pattern» of abuse while enforcing immigration law. He pointed to several recent DHS-involved shootings, including those involving Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.

Mullin pushed back against the allegation as an «exaggeration of words,» saying, «When you say there’s a pattern, there’s not a pattern.»

«Oh, I would say three in a row is a pattern,» retorted Van Hollen, to which Mullin shot back, «No, sir … a pattern of three people when we average 1900 a day is not a pattern.»

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Van Hollen insisted «there was a pattern.» As the two talked over each other, Van Hollen shook his head, saying, «Let’s get out the dictionary, put your semantics aside, the reality is this is a big problem.»

He pressed Mullin to commit to sharing evidence from the federal officer-involved shootings to Minnesota authorities.

«It sounds like you’re not willing to share evidence with the state authorities who are trying to get to the bottom of this. And I will just say, Mr. Secretary, that given the statements that came out of this administration, including the White House, it is hard to trust this administration to do an independent investigation,» said Van Hollen.

«But yet you trust your last administration?» Mullin fired back.

«I’m just saying if we’re calling an apple what an apple is and an orange what an orange is, don’t sit there and start cherry-picking one administration to believe and another administration not to believe,» Mullin continued.

In response, Van Hollen raised his hands and said, «Mr. Secretary, just, just please calm down.»

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Law enforcement agents during an immigration raid in Manassas, Va., on May 15, 2026. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)

During the hearing, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., pressed Mullin to commit to abiding by court orders, citing a federal judge’s claim that DHS had violated just under 100 orders in Minnesota. Murphy also criticized DHS for «spending money like stone drunk sailors,» including on «the massive detention centers that you are building.»

Murphy asked Mullin, «Now that you are on the job, can you commit to us that if a court judges something ICE is doing, something DHS is doing as illegal, unconstitutional, tells you to stop, that you will comply with the court order?»

Mullin answered, «We will never break the Constitution, and we’re not going to break the law, but we’re going to enforce our nation’s laws, and we’re going to enforce the laws that you guys passed and that we implement. We will never go outside that. And if we do, we’ll hold each other accountable for that.»

«But that doesn’t sound like the same thing as committing that you will obey a court order,» pressed Murphy. «Will you, or will you not implement court orders?»

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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks to reporters outside his office at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Murphy has come under fire for a social media post in response to Iranian efforts to avoid a U.S. naval blockade. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

In response, Mullin said, «If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that. But we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law.»

He chided Murphy, saying, «Don’t put words in my mouth,» adding, «What I’m saying is we will enforce the law, and we’re never going to break the Constitution.»

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Looking aside to his colleagues on the committee, Murphy remarked, «Listen, if you’re a Republican or Democrat on this committee, you should be really, really freaked out.»

«We should be really concerned about the rulings that come out of the courts, and how often they get overturned,» retorted Mullin.

El Ministerio Público de República Dominicana puso en marcha la Operación XL526 contra una red criminal que, según la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana, extorsionaba, chantajeaba y estafaba a residentes en Estados Unidos desde Jacagua, en Santiago, para obtener fondos que luego eran canalizados en maniobras de lavado de activos; la ofensiva dejó 20 personas arrestadas y derivará en presentaciones judiciales en las próximas horas.

La investigación, de acuerdo con la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana, incluyó 28 allanamientos ejecutados en Santiago y Puerto Plata por un equipo de 35 fiscales.

Entre los detenidos hay cinco cabecillas, seis integrantes identificados de la estructura y otras ocho personas apresadas con fines de investigación, mientras las autoridades persiguen a otro hombre vinculado al caso.

La operación fue coordinada por la Dirección General de Persecución y la Fiscalía de Santiago, según la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana.

También participaron la Dirección de Área de Investigación de Crimen Organizado, el Departamento Especial de Investigación de Delitos Trasnacionales de la Policía Nacional, HSI Santo Domingo, la Dirección Central de Prevención de la Policía Nacional y la Fuerza de Tarea contra el Crimen Organizado.

La estructura tenía su base operativa en el municipio de Jacagua, provincia de Santiago. La entidad oficial sostuvo que se trataba de una organización de carácter internacional integrada por personas con dominio del inglés y uso de herramientas tecnológicas para ejecutar las maniobras ilícitas.

El mecanismo, de acuerdo con la investigación oficial, comenzaba con la captación de víctimas mediante anuncios publicitarios. Después, las personas eran sometidas a extorsión y chantaje con un guion previamente estructurado por los cabecillas.

La Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana indicó que los imputados se hacían pasar, por medios tecnológicos, por supuestos miembros de organizaciones criminales como el denominado “Cartel de Sinaloa”. Con esa identidad falsa, exigían dinero a las víctimas y les enviaban imágenes de crímenes horrendos para intimidarlas.

Ese es el núcleo del caso: una red asentada en Santiago contactaba a residentes en Estados Unidos, los amenazaba con identidades criminales ficticias y obtenía dinero por coerción, según la Procuraduría General. Luego, esos fondos eran movilizados por distintos canales para dificultar su rastreo.

Durante la operación fueron arrestados los presuntos cabecillas Carlos José Parra Lantigua, Eliardo Peña Almonte, Renso Darío González Almonte, Josiel Pichardo Cabrera y Walinton Sosa Almonte, según la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana.

La institución también identificó como miembros de la red a Moisés David Pichardo Aracena, Pedro Antonio Pichardo, Yumeiry Altagracia Cabrera, Danny Rafael Lantigua, Augusto José Reyes y Julio Antonio Peralta del Rosario.

Los integrantes de la red serán presentados ante la Oficina Judicial de Servicios de Atención Permanente de Santiago en las próximas horas, de acuerdo con la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana. La investigación les atribuye presunta vinculación con crímenes y delitos de alta tecnología, asociación de malhechores, estafa, extorsión, chantaje, obtención ilícita de fondos, enriquecimiento ilícito, lavado de activos, distribución de sustancias controladas y uso de armas de fuego.

La Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana sostuvo que los fondos obtenidos eran canalizados mediante criptomonedas como Bitcoin, transferencias electrónicas, transferencias espejo y depósitos a través de empresas remesadoras y plataformas de pago.

En la mayoría de los casos, añadió la institución, las transacciones se hacían a favor de terceros identificados por la investigación para dificultar la trazabilidad del dinero y encubrir su origen ilícito.

La ostentación de bienestar económico por parte de los integrantes de la organización incentivaba la incorporación de nuevas personas, sobre todo jóvenes de Santiago de los Caballeros y municipios cercanos, según la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana. La institución afirmó que esa exhibición de recursos formaba parte del entorno de expansión de la estructura.

Las autoridades también señalaron que los imputados empleaban mecanismos de intimidación y coacción que causaban afectaciones psicológicas graves en las víctimas.

Las amenazas provocaban temor, sufrimiento y perturbación emocional tanto en quienes recibían directamente la presión como en sus familiares, con impacto en su estabilidad personal y su calidad de vida.