Netanyahu Floats Blockchain, Crypto Plan for Potential Sanctions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is exploring blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies as a way to reduce the economic impact of potential international financial sanctions. Speaking Friday to Channel 10’s economic network ahead of the Oct. 27 elections, Netanyahu said, “Blockchain is an alternative to sanctions,” and described the technology as a “national strategic tool.”

The proposal comes as a dozen Western countries have announced sanctions targeting goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The measures were introduced in response to attacks on Palestinians and increased settlement construction approved by Netanyahu’s right-wing government. Israeli economists and industry figures told The Times of Israel that sanctions could eventually extend to Israel itself.

The prime minister’s comments drew immediate criticism from political opponents and the central bank. Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot wrote on X that “the BibiCoin vision is a threat to national security.” The Bank of Israel rejected Netanyahu’s proposition, saying cryptocurrencies “cannot be used as a route for bypassing sanctions.”

Reaction also spread to an anti-government rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. Rally attendee Aryeh Cohen, holding a sign that read “enough Bibi’s B.S.,” argued that an economy associated with the dark web would be no better than Israel’s enemies. Another protester, identified only as Pnina, questioned what would happen if the Bank of Israel itself operated “’neath the law.”