US hints at sanctioning Israeli unit

The United States appears close to sanctioning an Israeli military unit over alleged human rights violations in the West Bank, a move the Israeli prime minister angrily denounced as “the height of absurdity”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted at such steps when asked by a reporter in Italy about reports that his department had recommended cuts in military aid to an Israeli unit involved in violent incidents in the West Bank.
The allegations precede the deadly October 7 attacks by Hamas on southern Israel.
Blinken, without providing details, said that his department is conducting investigations under a law that prohibits sending military aid to foreign security units that violate human rights with impunity.
He then added: “I think it’s fair to say that you’ll see results very soon. I’ve made determinations; you can expect to see them in the days ahead.”
In late 2022 the State Department directed embassy staff in Israel to investigate alleged abuses in the West Bank by the army’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion.
That included a January 2022 incident which a 78-year-old Palestinian American died of a heart attack after being detained.
Although the allegations precede the Hamas attacks and Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza, the suggestion of any sanctions against Israeli forces drew an angry response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“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 posted late on Saturday on social media platform X.
“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) – I will fight it with all my strength,” he said.
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, a centrist former armed forces chief, said in a statement yesterday that he spoke with Blinken and asked him to reconsider the matter.
Gantz said any such sanctions would be a mistake because they would harm Israel’s legitimacy during a time of war and that they were unjustified because Israel has an independent justice system and a military that keeps international law.
The Axios website, citing three US sources with knowledge of the matter, reported on Saturday that Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the battalion “within days.”
It said the sanctions would ban the unit from receiving any US military aid or training.
An earlier report from ProPublica said a special State Department panel had recommended in December that Blinken disqualify several military and police units serving in the West Bank from receiving any US aid.
Before the war in Gaza, violence had already been on the rise in the West Bank, land that the Palestinians seek for a state, and it has risen since with frequent Israeli raids, Palestinian street attacks and settler rampages in Palestinian villages.
The Israeli military said the Netzah Yehuda battalion is an active combat unit that operates according to the principles of international law.
“Following publications about sanctions against the battalion, the IDF is not aware of the issue,” the military said. “If a decision is made on the matter it will be reviewed. The IDF works and will continue to work to investigate any unusual event in a practical manner and according to law.” – AFP