Congress authorizes sweeping West Bank sanctions with minimal oversight

What it does

This bill authorizes the President to impose sanctions—asset freezes and visa bans—on foreign individuals and entities determined to be committing or supporting violent acts in the West Bank, including settler violence, forced displacement, and property destruction. The bill frames these actions as threats to U.S. national security and the viability of a two-state solution, and requires the Treasury Department to report every 90 days on who has been sanctioned.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a presidential sanctions authority targeting foreign persons engaged in West Bank violence. It is a foreign-policy/national-security instrument, not a domestic law or appropriations measure.

What the text implies

• The bill grants the President unilateral designation authority with no requirement for evidence disclosure, judicial review, or congressional approval of individual sanctions—only a 90-day reporting requirement after the fact.
• Definitions of 'complicity' and 'material assistance' are broad enough to capture journalists, humanitarian workers, or family members of designated persons, depending on presidential interpretation.
• The bill contains no appropriations, enforcement mechanism, or timeline, making it a symbolic authorization rather than a funded program—actual impact depends on executive branch follow-through.
• Visa revocation is automatic and immediate upon designation, with limited exceptions; a person designated in error has no clear statutory remedy.
• The bill does not distinguish between Israeli settlers and Palestinian actors, but the framing and title focus exclusively on West Bank violence, which may be interpreted as targeting one side asymmetrically.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill's stated purpose—deterring settler violence and forced displacement in the West Bank—would benefit civilians harmed by such violence if enforced. However, the mechanism grants the President sweeping, largely unreviewable discretion to designate targets with minimal due process, and the bill contains no enforcement mechanism, appropriations, or timeline, making actual impact uncertain. The broad definitions of 'terrorism' and 'complicity' create risk of overreach.

Named in the bill

President of the United States, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, Secretary of Homeland Security, Attorney General, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Finance, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United Nations

Where it stands

174 cosponsors: 174 Democrats.

• Apr 28, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Apr 28, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Foreign Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $820,990 in lobbying spend. A filing names 69 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Jerrold Nadler, the sponsor, reported $72,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Israel Public Affairs Committee — $810,990 on 1 filing
• National Council of Jewish Women — $10,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.