About 90 Democratic lawmakers in the US Congress have urged President Joe Biden to impose sanctions on two members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government over violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, a letter released Thursday showed.

Members of Congress urged Biden to send a message to US partners before he leaves office, saying Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had incited Israeli settlers to violence in the occupied territories.

“We write to express our deep concern about the escalation of settler violence, settlement expansion, and measures taken to weaken the Palestinian Authority and destabilize the West Bank,” the lawmakers said in the letter.

The letter, signed by 17 senators and 71 members of the House of Representatives, said Israeli settlers carried out more than 1,270 recorded attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, an average of more than three violent attacks per day.

Three members of Congress said the letter was dated Oct. 29 but was released yesterday because lawmakers had not received a response from the White House.

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Democratic Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Sean Casten told reporters that Biden has the authority to impose sanctions under an existing executive order. The three lawmakers are leading the effort to implement the letter’s demands.

They explained that doing so would send a message not only to Israel and the Palestinians, but also to US allies elsewhere in the world, that the United States would stand up for humanitarian issues.

extreme actions

“We believe it is more important than ever for President Biden to make clear now that the United States will not always stand for the extremist actions of the Netanyahu government,” Van Hollen said.

Spokespeople for the White House and the Israeli Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The United States has for decades supported a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians and has urged Israel not to expand settlements.

The West Bank is among the territories Israel occupied in the 1967 war, and the Palestinians, with international support, seek to establish their state there. Most world powers consider Israeli settlements in the area illegal. Israel rejects this, citing historical claims, and describes the West Bank as a security bastion.

Netanyahu and his allies celebrated the re-election this month of Donald Trump, a staunch but sometimes unpredictable ally of Israel, as U.S. president. In his first term, the Republican president-elect delivered significant gains for Netanyahu.

Moreover, Smotrich said this week that he hopes Israel will extend its sovereignty over the occupied West Bank in 2025 and that he will push the government to engage the incoming Trump administration to gain Washington’s support.

Smotrich also has a role overseeing settlers, a role the Defense Ministry holds under the coalition agreement with Netanyahu.