Romanian authorities have deported an Israeli settler after stopping him at Iasi International Airport and informing him that he is subject to European Union sanctions, media reports said.
The man was not named but the EU sanctioned five people and three entities under the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime in 2024.
The individuals and entities “are responsible for serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank,” a statement said.
On Wednesday evening, the Romanian authorities said the unnamed settler landed at the airport in the city of Iasi on Thursday Jan. 1, Middle East Monitor reported on Thursday. He was traveling onward to the Ukrainian city of Uman to visit the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, one of the spiritual leaders of Judaism.
The settler, who is from the Binyamin Regional Council in the central occupied West Bank, was stopped after being told that he was under sanctions imposed by the European Union.
He was taken to the airport’s departure hall, where he was informed that he was not allowed to leave the hall and that he would board a return flight to Israel scheduled to depart on Saturday.
Following an urgent appeal from the office of Knesset member Amit Halevi (from the Likud party), permission was granted to delay the man’s return from Saturday to Tuesday and he was allowed to receive kosher food supplies in the area where he was staying inside the airport.
On Tuesday, the settler returned to Israel on a direct flight from Iasi Airport.
