Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would fight against sanctions being imposed on any Israeli military units for alleged rights violations, after media reports said Washington was planning such a step.
“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) – I will fight it with all my strength,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israel war cabinet member Benny Gantz spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and asked him to reconsider the decision to sanction the Israel Defence Forces’ Netzah Yehuda battalion, an Axios reporter said on Sunday, citing Gantz’s office.
Earlier this week, the Pro Publica investigative news organisation reported that a special State Department panel known as the Israel Leahy Vetting Forum had recommended months ago to Blinken that multiple Israeli military and police units be disqualified from receiving US aid, after allegations of human rights violations.
Israel pounds Gaza as West Bank violence surges
Israel pounds Gaza as West Bank violence surges
Before the Gaza war, 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,”
In 2022, Netzah Yehuda’s battalion commander was reprimanded and two officers were dismissed over the death of an elderly Palestinian American whom the unit’s soldiers had detained in the West Bank, an incident that stirred concern in Washington.
There have been several other incidents in recent years, some captured on video, in which Netzah Yehuda soldiers were accused of or charged with abusing Palestinian detainees.