US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce within days sanctions against the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) ‘Netzah Yehuda’ battalion for human rights violations in the occupied West Bank, three US sources with knowledge of the issue told leading American news outlets.
It would be the first time the US imposed sanctions on an Israeli military unit, said news website Axios, founded in 2016 and launched the following year by former Politico journalists Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz.
The sanctions will ban the battalion and its members from receiving any kind of US military assistance or training, the sources revealed.
A 1997 law authored by then-Senator Patrick Leahy prohibits US foreign aid and Defence Department training programmes from going to foreign security, military and police units credibly alleged to have committed human rights violations.
Last Thursday, ProPublica, a non-profit organisation based in New York City dedicated to investigative journalism, reported that a special State Department panel that investigated alleged violations of human rights based on the Leahy law recommended months ago that Mr Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving US aid.
At a recent Press conference, he was asked about the recommendation and said he had made determinations based on the panel investigation, adding: “You can expect to see them in the days ahead.”
A US official said Mr Blinken’s determination about the Netzah Yehuda unit was based on incidents that occurred well before the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s war on Gaza and all took place in the West Bank.
The Netzah Yehuda battalion was formed as a special unit for ultra-orthodox soldiers. Over the years, the unit became a destination for many ‘Hilltop Youth’ – young radical right wing settlers who were not accepted into any other combat unit in the IDF.
International news agency Reuters reported yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would fight against sanctions being imposed on any Israeli military units.
“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF – I will fight it with all my strength,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The Israeli military said that Netzah Yehuda battalion is an active combat unit that operates ‘according to the principles of international law’.
“Following publications about sanctions against the battalion, the IDF is not aware of the issue. If a decision is made on the matter it will be reviewed. The IDF works and will continue to work to investigate any unusual event in a practical manner and according to law,” the military said.
The US State Department started investigating the Netzah Yehuda battalion in late 2022 after its soldiers were involved in several incidents of violence against Palestinian civilians.
One incident was the death of 80-year-old Palestinian American Omar Assad in January 2022. He was arrested by Netzah Yehuda soldiers at a checkpoint in his village late at night. After he refused to be checked, soldiers handcuffed and gagged him and left him on the ground in the cold. He was found dead a few hours later.
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