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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the United States for its plans to sanction the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, which in the past has been accused of mistreating Palestinians.
Among the more high-profile incidents was the death of Palestinian American Omar As’ad, 80, of a heart attack after he had been detained, blindfolded, gagged, and handcuffed by that battalion in the West Bank.
Netanyahu calls for the government to act against move
“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 in a post on X late Saturday night.
“In recent weeks, I have been working against the leveling of sanctions on Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior American government officials,” he stated.
“The government I head will act by all means against these moves,” he added.
“Sanctions must not be imposed on the Israel Defense Forces!” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X.
Netanyahu spoke out against such a move, first reported by the Walla news site, just one hour after he wrote a message on X, thanking the House of Representatives for passing a $23.2 billion military aid bill for Israel, which now moves to the Senate.
The two messages reflect two concurrent moves by the Biden administration. Since the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, it has deepened its support of Israel while at the same time cracking down on extremist Jewish violence against Palestinians.
On Friday, the US imposed sanctions on Ben-Zion Gopstein, founder and leader of the right-wing group Lehava, and two entities that raised money for Israeli men accused of settler violence.
The 1997 Leahy Law prohibits the funding of foreign military units believed to be involved in human rights abuses such as extrajudicial killing, torture, and rape.
On Wednesday, the investigative US-based news site ProPublica reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been sitting on State Department recommendation that he apply the Leahy Law to “multiple Israeli military and police units.”
When asked about the report at a press conference in Italy on Friday, Blinken said that application of the Leahy law was time-consuming and “has to be done very carefully both in collecting the facts and analyzing them – and that’s exactly what we’ve done.
“And 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,” Blinken said.
On Saturday night, Walla reported that the US was expected to sanction the Netzah Yehuda battalion, largely composed of Haredi soldiers, which for years had served in the West Bank but which has been deployed in Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7 attack.
Benny Gantz’s response
Minster Benny Gantz, who is a former Defense Minister and IDF Chief-of-Staff, wrote on X that “The ‘Netzah Yehuda’ battalion is an inseparable part of the Israel Defense Forces. It is subject to military law and is responsible for operating in full compliance with International law.
“The State of Israel has a strong, independent judicial system that evaluates meticulously any claim of a violation or deviation from IDF orders and code of conduct, and will continue to do so,” he wrote.
“I have great appreciation for our American friends, but the decision to impose sanctions on an IDF unit and its soldiers sets a dangerous precedent and conveys the wrong message to our shared enemies during wartime,” he explained.
“I intend on acting to have this decision changed,” Gantz stated.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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