The United States has condemned sanctions imposed by New Zealand and other countries on two members of the Israeli Government.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has responded by saying he is confident the sanctions are “the right course of action for us”, but New Zealand has “huge respect” for what the US is trying to do to achieve a ceasefire between the parties in Gaza.

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters on Wednesday morning announced New Zealand was joining with international partners – Australia, Canada, Britain and Norway – to issue travel bans on high-profile Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The Israeli Finance Minister and National Security Minister were described by Peters as “using their leadership positions to actively undermine peace and security and remove prospects for a two-state solution”.

“New Zealand is a long-standing supporter of the two-state solution. Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have severely and deliberately undermined that by personally advocating for the annexation of Palestinian land and the expansion of illegal settlements, while inciting violence and forced displacement,” said Peters.

“New Zealand’s consistent and historic position has been that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are a violation of international law. Settlements and associated violence undermine the prospects for a viable two-state solution.”

The New Zealand minister said the action wasn’t “against the Israeli people”, who he acknowledged had “suffered immeasurably on October 7 and who have continued to suffer through Hamas’ ongoing refusal to release all hostages”, nor against the wider Israeli Government.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) has condemned the decision to impose sanctions on two Israeli ministers. Photo / Getty Images

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has now responded with a statement saying the US condemns the countries for their sanctions.

“These sanctions do not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and end the war,” said Rubio.

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“We reject any notion of equivalence: Hamas is a terrorist organisation that committed unspeakable atrocities, continues to hold innocent civilians hostage, and prevents the people of Gaza from living in peace.

“We remind our partners not to forget who the real enemy is. The United States urges the reversal of the sanctions and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel.”

Luxon, speaking to reporters this afternoon, said the sanctions were targeted at the politicians because of their “extremist rhetoric”, including when it came to settlements in the West Bank.

He said New Zealand had “huge respect” for what the Americans were trying to do to achieve a ceasefire.

“We have a good relationship with the American Administration. We have differences in approach. The Americans are doing an excellent job behind the scenes in trying to get Israel and the Palestinians to the table to talk about an immediate ceasefire.”

Luxon confirmed New Zealand would not roll back the sanctions as the US wanted, saying the current approach was “the right course of action for us”.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is standing by New Zealand's approach. Photo / Dean Purcell

According to overseas reporting, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said the countries’ sanctions were an “outrageous” decision.

“I discussed it earlier today with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, and we will hold a special Government meeting early next week to decide on our response to this unacceptable decision,” said Sa’ar.

According to the ABC, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said the US had been contacted overnight about the sanctions.

“There are occasions on which in our alliance [with the US] we have had differences of views and differences of approach, but obviously there remains a great deal of strategic alignment across many domains,’ the ABC reported.

Peters, who is in Europe for meetings, said the sanctions were consistent with how New Zealand had approached other foreign policy issues, such as placing travel bans on politicians from Russia.

“The crisis in Gaza has made returning to a meaningful political process all the more urgent. New Zealand will continue to advocate for an end to the current conflict and an urgent restart of the Middle East peace process.”

Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.