General Ziv: “At long last, justice has been done. I never should have been put on the U.S. sanctions list, and I’m grateful that the American authorities have removed all sanctions against me and my companies.  Now it is time to get back to work on the Green Horizon project in South Sudan.”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today removed all sanctions imposed in December 2018 on the retired Israeli Major General Israel Ziv and the entities under his control. As a result, General Ziv and his companies were delisted from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN). 

In late 2018, General Ziv was designated for allegedly supplying both the Government of South Sudan and the opposition with weapons and ammunition.  In doing so, OFAC claimed that Ziv used the Green Horizon agricultural project in South Sudan, as a cover for the sale of approximately $150 million worth of weapons. General Ziv denied these allegations, and OFAC never produced any evidence to substantiate them during the delisting process.

Following OFAC’s designation, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, through the Defense Export Control Agency (DECA), held a special hearing on General Ziv.  Its review of the matter did not result in any restrictions against Ziv. In addition, a United Nations (U.N.) Panel of Experts on South Sudan, charged with overseeing the U.N. Security Council’s arms embargo, found no evidence that General Ziv or his companies were involved in arms trading in South Sudan.  As part of its work, the U.N. panel visited the Green Horizon agricultural project’s Juba location after OFAC’s allegations were made public and explicitly attested to the legitimacy of the Green Horizon project in its report. The panel also commended General Ziv and his companies’ cooperation and transparency during its work.

Following his delisting, General (Ret.) Israel Ziv stated, “I’m very happy that justice was finally done. For more than a year,I found myself facing groundless allegations that came out of nowhere, stained my reputation and severely damaged my life and my business. I fully engaged with U.S. authorities to clear my name, including making numerous submissions of facts to OFAC and answering all of their questions.  I knew all along that I never conducted arms trading or any other illegal activity in South Sudan. It was a long and difficult process,but I believed all along that the U.S. authorities would ultimately reach the right conclusion – which OFAC did with its delisting determination, concluding that the sanctions are no longer warranted. Above all I’m pleased that now I’ll be able to restore the agriculture project that we have established in South Sudan. I am very proud that this project generates food security and meets humanitarian requirements for this country. I am grateful for both the trust and the support of the Israeli authorities and I thank all those in Israel and in the US who helped to do justice”.  

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