Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has pledged to oppose any potential sanctions on the military unit of Israel following reports that the US is considering cutting aid to a specific unit due to alleged human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.
Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he would “fight it with all my strength” in response to the Axios news site’s report that the US is planning to target the military unit of Israel. The proposed move would fall under a US ban on aid to foreign units involved in violations.
The military unit of Israel has claimed that Netzah Yehuda is operating in accordance with international law, and Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, has urged the US to retract its intention to sanction the battalion. Gallant warned that such actions could cast a “heavy shadow” on the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and may not be appropriate for allies and friends.
The US, Israel’s primary ally, has never before suspended aid to an IDF unit. The alleged violations occurred before the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The IDF has stated that it regrets the death of Omar Assad, an 80-year-old Palestinian-American man who died after being bound and gagged by Israeli soldiers during a search in the West Bank in January 2022. However, the IDF did not prosecute the soldiers involved and stated that Assad’s death was caused by a pre-existing medical condition. Assad’s family, many of whom are based in the US, have condemned the decision to close the case.
Any decision to bar an IDF unit from US military assistance would be made under the “Leahy Law,” which prevents US funding or training from being used for foreign military units implicated in gross human rights violations. Last year, a group of US officials known as the “Israel-Leahy vetting forum” looked into at least a dozen allegations made against the military unit of Israel, including the Netzah Yehuda battalion. However, former senior US official Josh Paul claimed that when they tried to advance these recommendations to the secretary of state, they could never get them through the political level.
Formed in 1999, Netzah Yehuda is a special men-only unit where ultra-Orthodox Jews serve. The State Department recently imposed sanctions on Israeli far-right activist Ben-Zion Gopstein, stating that his organization, Lehava, had “engaged in destabilizing violence affecting the West Bank.”
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