- Written by Tom Bateman
- BBC News, Washington
image source, AFP (via Getty Images)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to reject any sanctions against his country’s military, following reports that the United States plans to cut aid to one of its troops.
The prime minister said on Sunday: “We will fight with all our might.”
Earlier, news site Axios reported that the US would target Israel’s Netza Yehuda battalion over alleged human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.
The BBC understands that any action would be subject to a ban on US aid to foreign forces believed to have been involved in the breach.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked last week about reports that U.S. military aid to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops could be cut over alleged human rights abuses in the occupied West Bank. , said: You can expect to meet them within the next few days. ”
Washington, Israel’s main ally, has never suspended aid to IDF forces.
The Israeli military said Netza Yehuda was acting in accordance with international law.
“Following the publication regarding sanctions against the battalion, the Israel Defense Forces is not aware of this issue,” the military said, according to Reuters. “IDF has worked and will continue to work to investigate unusual events in a pragmatic manner and in accordance with the law.”
Axios on Saturday cited three U.S. sources familiar with the matter as saying Blinken was expected to announce action against Netza Yehuda within the next few days.
The newspaper said the measures were taken in the West Bank, including in the case of Omar Assad, an 80-year-old Palestinian-American man who died after being restrained and gagged by Israeli soldiers during a raid in the West Bank. He said that this was in response to allegations of abuse. January 2022.
At the time, the United States called for a “thorough criminal investigation and full accountability” into the incident.
The IDF later deplored Mr. Assad’s death and said that General Netza Yehuda would be “reprimanded” for the incident. It added that the two soldiers will be banned from holding senior positions for two years but will not be prosecuted. It was announced that Assad’s death was due to his chronic illness.
Assad’s family, many of whom are based in the United States, condemned the decision to close the case.
All of the alleged violations occurred before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The decision to exclude IDF units from U.S. military aid is based on the Leahy Act, introduced in 1997 by then-Senator Patrick Leahy. This would prevent U.S. funds and training from being used by foreign military units that have been shown to be involved in serious human rights abuses.
Last year, a group of U.S. officials known as the “Israel Leahi Scrutiny Forum” investigated at least a dozen allegations against Israeli forces, including the Netza Yehuda battalion, a former senior U.S. official told the BBC.
“We believed that in most cases these were not being remedied, meaning the perpetrators were not being properly held accountable,” said Josh Paul, a former State Department political-military director who oversees U.S. arms transfers. Told. .
“When we tried to take these recommendations forward to the Secretary, [of state] We could never convince them at the political level,” he added.
Paul resigned in November to protest the lack of accountability for arms transfers to Israel. Asked whether the recommendations he mentioned had since reached Mr. Blinken’s desk, he cited recent media reports suggesting they had.
Formed in 1999, Netza Yehuda is a special male-only unit staffed by ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Earlier this week, the State Department imposed sanctions on Israeli far-right activist Ben Zion Gopstein. He said his organization, Rehabah, had been “involved in the destabilizing violence affecting the West Bank.”
