Netanyahu Warns U.S. Military Aid Could End and Floats Crypto Plan to Circumvent Potential Banking Sanctions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that U.S. military aid to Israel could end and that the country's banking sector could face harsh global sanctions. He made the remarks in an Oct. 23 interview, after the United Kingdom recently imposed sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
"Of course I'm concerned," Netanyahu said. "Tens of billions of US aid dollars to the defense budget — get used to it — won't keep coming. Because America has changed. Not because Israel has. It's over and it will be over; it's just a question of time."
Netanyahu suggested Israel should organize an alternative economy to circumvent potential banking sanctions, with one possible option being to embrace blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Israel faces legislative elections on Oct. 27.
The Bank of Israel pushed back, saying cryptocurrencies cannot serve as a means to circumvent sanctions and that the right course is to preserve economic relations with Israel's primary trading partners and focus on preventing sanctions. Netanyahu responded: "I thank the Bank of Israel for the advice. I listen, but I do what I think [is best]."
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Netanyahu's vision would put Israel on par with sanctioned countries like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela, and said his party would reach agreements, not sanctions, with the U.S., Europe, and Saudi Arabia. Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar party called the proposal a "BibiCoin" vision and a threat to national security. Crypto entrepreneur Avishay Ovadia said evading sanctions with crypto is impossible because almost no private coins are in use, every transaction is documented, and there is always an entity converting dollars to crypto and vice versa.