According to US media reports, the United States is considering imposing sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, an all-male ultra-Orthodox battalion unit that has been accused of human rights violations during its operations in the occupied West Bank.
The New York Times reported, citing an unnamed source, that one or more Israeli battalions could be affected by the sanctions. However, Israeli media reported on Wednesday that Washington may not enforce the sanctions due to pressure from Israel’s leadership. However, Al Jazeera could not independently verify the media reports.
The reports of possible sanctions came a day after the U.S. Congress approved $26 billion in aid for Israel, which continued its assault on Gaza, killing more than 34,000 people and leaving the enclave of 2.3 million people uninhabitable.
The US had put pressure on Israel to investigate the death of Omar Assad, a Palestinian-American who died when captured by soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion in January 2022.
In October 2022, in a rare move, Israel agreed to pay compensation to the 80-year-old’s family. However, in June last year, Israel said its forces would not be charged over Assad’s death and instead imposed disciplinary measures.
What was the Israeli reaction?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his support for the controversial battalion, which has been accused of abuses in the past. In October 2021, four Netzah Yehuda soldiers were arrested for allegedly beating and sexually assaulting a Palestinian suspect, while a soldier from the unit was charged with electrocuting detainees in 2015.
“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on an entity [Israeli army] – I will fight this with all my might,” Netanyahu said.
Benny Gantz, Minister of the War Cabinet, also expressed his opinion against the possible sanctions.
“I greatly appreciate our American friends, but the decision to impose sanctions” on an Israeli army unit and its soldiers “sets a dangerous precedent and sends the wrong message to our common enemies during the war,” said Gantz, a former army chief , posted on X
What is the Netzah Yehuda Battalion and where does it operate?
Netzah Yehuda, formerly Nahal Haredi, was founded in 1999 to house ultra-Orthodox, or haredi, Jews who refuse to interact with female soldiers because of their strict religious beliefs. The first unit, known as the 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion, started with 30 soldiers. The battalion now has more than 1,000 soldiers and is subordinate to the Israeli army’s Kfir Brigade.
The battalion’s main combat area is in the occupied West Bank. But recently the Israeli military ordered the battalion to be stationed in the Beit Hanoon district in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Under which Leahy law is the Israeli battalion sanctioned?
The law is named after former Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, who introduced a legislative measure in the 1990s. The Leahy Act, enacted in 1997, requires the United States to cut aid to a foreign military accused of credible human rights abuses.
The law “prohibits the Department of State (State) and the Department of Defense (DoD) from providing funds to support or train foreign security forces or individuals when there is credible information that such forces have committed a serious human rights violation (GVHR).” Examples of rights violations include torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and rape.
What impact will it have on the Israeli army in light of war crimes allegations in Gaza?
If the U.S. State Department determines that Netzah Yehuda soldiers committed GVHRs, U.S. law would prohibit providing further military assistance to specific individuals or units of the Israeli military.
Last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters: “When we do these investigations, it’s something that takes time and has to be done very carefully, both in gathering the facts and analyzing them, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.” Completed. And I think it’s fair to say that you will see results very soon. I have made decisions that you can expect in the coming days.”
While we wait for Blinken’s final assessment, violating the Leahy Act could potentially block some of the $3.8 billion in military aid the U.S. sends to Israel each year. The Leahy Law does not require that aid be blocked entirely, only some that relate to the entity in question.
The move does not affect the billions in military aid that the US Congress approved earlier this week.
However, according to a report by the US portal ProPublica last week, Blinken did not respond to recommendations from a State Department forum to sanction Israeli entities accused of human rights violations.
In addition to the State Department’s call to investigate the death of Palestinian-American Assad, Democracy Now for the Arab World (DAWN), an advocacy group that works to promote democracy and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa, submitted an article in November 2022 to the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court in connection with the abuses committed by the battalion.
It said: “Between 2015 and 2022, the battalion was involved in a number of serious incidents involving ill-treatment of Palestinian civilians, including shooting and killing of unarmed civilians, torture, physical assaults, beatings and sexual assaults, in violation of international law Human rights.” Law and international humanitarian law. During this time, soldiers in the unit killed three Palestinians – Iyad Zakariya Hamed, 38, Qassem Abbasi, 16, and Palestinian-American Omar Assad, 78 – in incidents in which soldiers unjustifiably used lethal force against unarmed civilians. In almost all cases (as documented below), soldiers were found to have lied or covered up the incidents to make it appear that they were acting in self-defense.”
What other militaries have been sanctioned by the US in the past?
If the US goes ahead, it would be the first time Washington has imposed sanctions on the Israeli military.
Although most details of the cases invoking the Leahy Act are classified, a recent unclassified State Department document lists countries such as Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico and the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia that have used the Leahy Act. triggered the law.
In some other cases, the U.S. may freeze or suspend transactions related to nongovernmental entries, which can be individuals, companies or nonprofits that funnel cash to the military of a country accused of human rights abuses. The US does not always have to use the Leahy Act to impose sanctions.
Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on six individuals and two companies based in Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates for financing North Korea’s military program.
In January, the US named four people and two companies responsible for producing weapons for the Myanmar military. In February 2021, Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup that killed innocent civilians. The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar, were targeted by the military.