Israeli leaders claim that the US’s anticipated sanctions on a military unit might further strain relations

Jerusalem: Israeli authorities severely criticized on Sunday the US’s anticipated move to impose sanctions on an Israeli military unit, including ultra-Orthodox troops. The decision, which is anticipated as soon as Monday, would further strain ties between the two allies, which have been more strained during Israel’s war in Gaza, and would be the first time the US has ever placed sanctions on a unit inside the Israeli military.

The sanctioned unit was identified by Israeli politicians and local media as Netzah Yehuda, an infantry battalion that was established around 25 years ago with the aim of integrating ultra-Orthodox males into the military, despite US officials refusing to reveal its identity. Numerous religious men are granted exemptions from the obligatory duty.

Israeli officials promised to contest the judgment, denouncing it as unjust, particularly during Israel’s current conflict.

Benjamin Netanyahu declares, “I will fight it with all my might.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “I will fight it with all my might if anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit in the IDF.”

Judea Forever, sometimes known as Netzah Yehuda, has its roots in the occupied West Bank and some of its members have been implicated in crimes against Palestinians. It represents a very small portion of Israel’s armed presence in the region.

In 2022, the unit faced significant criticism from the United States with the discovery of the body of an elderly Palestinian-American man who had been arrested at a West Bank checkpoint.

Omar Assad, 78, had underlying medical issues, according to a Palestinian autopsy, but he also had a heart attack brought on by “external violence.” According to the report, the medics discovered blood in his eyes from being firmly blinded, bruises on his head, and redness on his wrists from being chained. According to a military inquiry, when Israeli forces severed Assad’s handcuffs, they believed he was sleeping. When they saw he was unconscious, they didn’t try to revive him and instead fled the area without calling for aid.

Assad has spent forty years living in the US. The Israeli military said that the incident “was a grave and unfortunate event, resulting from moral failure and poor decision-making on the part of the soldiers” in response to a backlash from the US administration. According to the report, two officers were moved to non-commanding positions and one officer received a reprimand for the event.

However, the army declined to pursue criminal charges, claiming that military investigators were unable to establish a causal connection between their conduct and the US citizen’s death.

Human rights organizations have long maintained that Israel seldom prosecutes its troops for killing Palestinians.

Investigators said that Assad’s “aggressive resistance” was the reason why troops had to detain him. The family of Assad has voiced doubt that the actions of a sick 78-year-old could warrant such severe punishment.

In late 2022, Israel relocated Netzah Yehuda from the West Bank to northern Israel amid a ruckus with the US. After the conflict began on October 7 due to an offensive by Hamas, the unit was sent to the southern border with Gaza.

The troops from Netzah Yehuda, according to an army statement on Sunday, “are currently participating in the war effort in the Gaza Strip.” According to the IDF Code of Ethics and with unwavering adherence to international law, the battalion is “professionally and bravely conducting operations,” the statement said. It said that “its consequences will be reviewed” in the event that the unit is sanctioned. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that he would soon make public his conclusion about the reviews of claims made by various Israeli military units that they had broken the terms set forth in the so-called Leahy Law in order to get US support.

According to two US sources with knowledge of the matter, the US statement may occur as soon as Monday.

According to the authorities, when about five Israeli units were examined, it was discovered that all but one of them had taken corrective steps to address the irregularities. The Leahy Law, named for the late Senator Patrick Leahy, prohibits US funding from flowing to foreign military forces engaged in violations of human rights.

Sgt. Maj. Nadav Nissim Miranda, a reservist in the Netzah Yehuda battalion, described the murder of Assad as “an unfortunate incident” that was also an anomaly. Targeting the unit, he said, would undermine attempts to get religious men to enroll.

An Israeli legal advocacy organization, Yesh Din, countered that the case was not unique. It added that since 2010, Netzah Yehuda has produced the greatest conviction rate for troops found guilty of causing injury to Palestinians or their property, accounting for one out of every five convictions.

The US study was started before the Hamas conflict and has nothing to do with current Israeli operations in the West Bank or Gaza, where there has been a sharp increase in fatalities since the Gaza conflict broke out. Additionally, the US recently levied fines on settlers who were aggressive.

One major issue with the unit, according to retired general Gadi Shamni, is that it was historically allocated only to the West Bank. Shamni formerly held the position of military commander over the West Bank. The level of violence has increased recently between settlers and Palestinians, as well as between Israelis and Palestinians. On the other hand, he said that other troops often move into and out of the unstable region.

He added that the soldiers had become “tired” due to their constant exposure to conflict and bloodshed. However, he said that criticizing the whole unit was stereotypical and that it would have been preferable to focus on certain members or leaders.

However, Ori Givati, the head of advocacy at Breaking the Silence, an Israeli organization made up of former combatants who oppose Israel’s occupation, said that the issues are much more widespread than any one unit.

According to him, systemic violations of Palestinians’ rights by troops are encouraged by the absence of consequences for misconduct, which is why events like the assassination of Assad occur.

Hard-liners in Israel criticized the anticipated US ruling. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s ultranationalist minister of national security, said that the US had crossed a “red line,” while Tally Gotliv, a Likud party member and Netanyahu’s opponent, charged that the US was antisemitic.

However, the idea was opposed even by the leader of the opposition, former prime minister Yair Lapid.

“We must act to cancel the sanctions,” he said, calling them “a mistake.” “The political level is the source of the problem, not the military level,” he said.