The US is expected to announce sanctions on a unit of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for alleged human rights violations against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, the Axio news site reported on Saturday. This would mark the first time that the Biden administration has ever taken against an Israeli military unit.
The Netzah Yehuda battalion has been mired in past controversies over its right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians. This also included the death of Omar As’ad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American who died after the battalion soldiers detained him. He was handcuffed, blindfolded and later found abandoned in near-freezing conditions, The Times of Israel reported.
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The planned move by the US did not go down well for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that such an action was the “height of absurdity and a moral low”.
“Sanctions must not be imposed on the Israel Defence Forces! In recent weeks, I have been working against the imposition of sanctions on Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior American government officials,” he tweeted.
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“At a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror, the intention to impose a sanction on a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low. The government headed by me will act by all means against these moves,” he said.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that imposing sanctions “on the soldiers of Netzah Yehuda was a red line”. Calling the Axios report “grave”, Gvir said he expected that Defence Minister Yoav Gallant would not submit to American dictates”.
He said if Israel’s defence ministry did not take steps to support the battalion, he would ask them to integrate it with the country’s border police.
The Netzah Yehuda, a largely ultra-Orthodox infantry unit, comprises only servicemen who can freely serve the force without compromising their beliefs. The troops are not allowed to interact with female soldiers and are given additional time for religious study and prayer.
In December 2022, Israel shifted the unit out of West Bank and it has since served mostly in the northern parts of the country. However, the Jewish state denied reports that the battalion was shifted out due to soldiers’ conduct.
Quoting sources, the Axios reported that Netzah Yehuda soldiers will not be able to train with American troops or take part in any activities with US funding, under Leahy Laws. The sanctions will also bar the transfer of US weapons to the battalion.
The laws, named after then-senator Patrick Leahy, bar units or individuals from obtaining military assistance if they are accused of committing human rights abuses and have not been brought to justice, The Times of Israel reported.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had decided not to sanction other military and police units of Israel that the Biden administration was probing due to their marked improvement in their conduct, the Axios report quoted sources as saying.
The report came days after a report by ProPublica stated that a State Department panel had recommended that Blinken should impose sanctions on several Israeli units, including Netzah Yehuda, for alleged human rights abuses.
Notably, several soldiers from the battalion have been involved and also convicted earlier for torturing Palestinian prisoners.
So far, the US has imposed sanctions against individuals for violence against Palestinians since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7 last year. As of now, over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel and killed some 1,200 people there, which triggered the war.
The latest round of sanctions came into being on Friday and included the leader of the far-right group Lehava, Benzi Gopstein, who is a close ally of Gvir, The Times of Israel reported.
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