The Biden administration is reportedly planning to sanction a battalion of the IDF in the West Bank over what’s being called human rights abuses by the battalion in the past.
But Prime Minister Netanyahu calls the plan to sanction them ‘absurd’ and a ‘moral low’.
Here’s more from Bloomberg:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a reported US plan to sanction an ultra-Orthodox army battalion over human rights abuses in the West Bank, a move which could fuel tensions over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
“At a time when our soldiers are fighting terrorist monsters, the intention to sanction a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low,” Netanyahu wrote on X, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
The US is expected within days to announce the punitive measure, which would be the first time the US sanctions an Israeli army unit, Axios reported on Saturday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter in the US that it didn’t identify. The US Embassy in Israel declined to comment.
Blacklisting the Netzah Yehuda Battalion would prohibit it from receiving US military equipment or training. It’s been accused of mistreating Palestinians, including in an incident in January 2022 when an elderly US-Palestinian man, Omar Assad, was found dead after his detention by members of the unit in the West Bank.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said he will reveal “in the days ahead” his determinations on whether specific Israeli military or police units are liable to be sanctioned under the so-called Leahy Law, which bars military assistance to other countries’ security forces that violate human rights.
Netanyahu said in his statement that his government “will act by all means against these moves.”
Benny Gantz, Israel’s war cabinet minister, is pleading with Blinken not to issue the sanctions, pointing out that the IDF and Israel’s judicial system is capable of handling any misconduct:
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reconsider the reported plan to sanction the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, his office says in a readout of the conversation.
Not only will sanctioning the largely ultra-Orthodox battalion harm Israel’s international legitimacy as it fights the Hamas terror group in Gaza, but there is no justification for the US to do so, Gantz told Blinken.
The Israeli judicial system is strong and independent, the former IDF chief of staff said, adding that all IDF units are subject to the IDF’s code of conduct and orders in accordance with international law.
Every military is going to have problems with over zealous personnel or just rogue elements and they should always be dealt with. But this move by Biden to sanction this IDF battalion reeks of election politics, as he’s still struggling to win back elements he’s lost with his support for Israel’s defensive war in Gaza.
Also this is the man responsible for the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal in which 13 service members died and many Americans were left behind because Biden gave the country to the Taliban and ran away. Biden has NO moral ground to stand on to condemn someone else’s military.