Although it is welcomed, sanctioning Ben-Gvir and Smotrich is theatre. There are numerous concrete actions Australia could have taken and can still adopt, such as making it illegal for Australian citizens to join the IDF, yet it has not taken such steps.

While Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are undoubtedly violent extremists, they are products of a broader settler-colonial system that is fully backed by the Israeli state. Sanctioning two individuals allows the UK, Australia and its allies to posture as morally upright while continuing arms sales, intelligence sharing, and diplomatic protection for the very military machinery enforcing apartheid and occupation. This isolates the symptom, not the disease.