The Biden administration has lifted sanctions on an active Israel Defense Forces reservist after accidentally sanctioning him instead of an activist with a similar name.

The Biden administration’s latest bunch of sanctions, issued last week, had meant to target a right-wing activist and a leader of the Tzav 9 group, Shlomo Sarid — along with other Israeli extremists — but the sanctions had instead been issued against Aviad Shlomo Sarid. 

After the Treasury Department had confused Shlomo Sarid with the unrelated Israeli reservist, Aviad Shlomo Sarid, it listed the latter’s ID number and birthday, the Times of Israel reports. The Treasury Department referred the Sun to the State Department for comment, which did not immediately respond. 

Tzav 9 is already sanctioned by the State Department, which called it “a violent extremist Israeli group that has been blocking, harassing, and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” 

After being accidentally targeted by the sanctions, Aviad Shlomo Sarid was “completely surprised by the whole thing,” the Times of Israel reported. Shlomo Sarid, however, has said the sanctions against him are “draconian,” the outlet notes, and said Tzav 9 has a new goal of fighting the sanctions which are “set by the American administration against legitimate protest activists within an independent, seemingly democratic ally, without basis, advance notice or an option to appeal.”

The real target of the sanctions, Shlomo Sarid, was just interviewed on Kan television. He said yesterday he contacted the man who erroneously sanctioned, Aviad Shlomo Sarid, apologized to him, and gave him tips on how to handle the sanctions. 

“It is unreal that a friendly country is sanctioning people who lawfully protest” government policies, he told Kan.

The mix-up has sparked fears among some observers that other Israelis could accidentally be sanctioned.

“While he [Aviad Shlomo Sarid] is defending Israel, the American administration has imposed sanctions on him by mistake,” the deputy head of the Samaria Regional Council, Davidi Ben Zion, said, the Daily Wire reported. “It’s very unfortunate and especially disturbing,” he said, adding that “every citizen of Israel should be afraid that his name is similar to someone who will enter the ‘black list.’” 

The sanctions have also faced criticism as American overreach into Israel’s affairs. 

“The State of Israel is a state of law and order and manages to enforce the law on its own and without external assistance,” Mr. Ben Zion said. “Today it is sanctions on social activists, tomorrow it will be a sanction on reservists and the day after that on public figures and politicians,” he said, adding that it is “not acceptable behavior between friends,” as Israel and America are expected to “act as partners.” 

The State Department said during its latest batch of sanctions that it was “deeply concerned about extremist violence and instability in the West Bank, which undermines Israel’s own security.”

“We strongly encourage the Government of Israel to take immediate steps to hold these individuals and entities accountable,” a department spokesman, Matthew Miller, said. “In the absence of such steps, we will continue to impose our own accountability measures.”