Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Channel 10 interview on Friday 23 October that Israel could face banking sanctions, and that cryptocurrency and blockchain were among the options being considered to counter them. The remarks came days before the Israeli elections on 27 October.
Netanyahu said he had asked advisers to prepare a plan. Ynet reported that economic ministries were unaware of any such initiative.
Central bank objects
The Bank of Israel issued a statement on Saturday 24 October saying cryptocurrencies cannot serve as a way to circumvent sanctions, and that the matter falls to the political level rather than to the central bank itself. The bank said it has no veto power over the project and that the decision belongs to the government.
Netanyahu responded: “I hear the objections and I take them into account. I thank the Bank of Israel for its advice. I listen, but I do what I think is right.”
Political and industry pushback
Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Israel Beytenou party, said transactions on blockchains are traceable, and that countries and authorities can already identify and block the activity of wallets linked to sanctioned entities. Gadi Eisenkot, leader of Yashar party, called it a “BibiCoin vision, a threat to national security.”
Tomer Sharoni, head of crypto intelligence firm Adresable, said changing the means of payment does not turn a prohibited transaction into an authorised one. More than 100 economists, business leaders and former senior officials grouped in the Forum des économistes called the proposal puzzling.
The backdrop includes the United Kingdom and eleven other Western countries announcing sanctions on products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Tether freezes addresses targeted by US sanctions, and Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions are recorded on public ledgers.
Source: Bank of Israel
