“Cryptocurrencies cannot serve as a bypass” – Israeli central bank rebukes Netanyahu's remarks on international sanctions

A rare rejection a few days before crucial legislative elections. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, in the middle of the electoral campaign, that the country must prepare for a “circumvention economy” in the face of possible international sanctions, mentioning in particular the use of cryptocurrencies. the Israeli Central Bank has broken its silence.

This Saturday, the economic institution declared that “cryptocurrencies cannot serve as a way to circumvent sanctions”, and called for a focus on “prevention” of sanctions.

Mentioning the possibility of allowing Israeli banks to bypass international channels, many political opponents of Benjamin Netanyahu, but also big names in the Israeli business world, rejected the Prime Minister's comments.

During the campaign for the legislative elections scheduled for Tuesday, October 27, which promise to be very close and are widely perceived as a referendum for or against Benjamin Netanyahu, the latter has continued to increase the number of alarmist remarks, suggesting that the country would collapse in the event of defeat for his camp, the Likud.

He did not name the countries he expects to take sanctions, but his statements came after the United Kingdom and other countries imposed sanctions targeting products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, in response to settler attacks on Palestinians and settlement construction.

Machine-translated from French