The US plans to impose sanctions on the Israeli military unit over alleged human rights abuses

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The US is expected to blacklist a controversial Israeli military unit for alleged human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, in its first sanctions against the Israeli military.

The sanctions would ban the transfer of U.S. military weapons or any other form of assistance to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, an all-male IDF infantry unit made up of ultra-Orthodox and religious nationalist Jewish recruits, according to people familiar with the matter . It would be the first time the US has directly targeted an IDF unit.

Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum reacted angrily on Sunday to reports of the sanctions, which were first reported by Axios.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the US action as the “height of absurdity and a moral low point” at a time when Israeli soldiers were “fighting the terrorist monsters.”

Bezalel Smotrich, the ultra-nationalist finance minister, called the US decision “absolute madness.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, vowed to push for Israeli sanctions against the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank.

Benny Gantz, a centrist minister in the country’s war cabinet and Netanyahu’s main political rival, said Netzah Yehuda was an “inseparable part” of the IDF and that Israel’s “strong, independent legal system” could prevent any violation of military or international law to research.

“I have great appreciation for our American friends, but the decision to impose sanctions on an IDF unit. . . sets a dangerous precedent,” he added.

The U.S. State Department has been considering sanctions for some time under the auspices of legislation passed by former Senator Patrick Leahy in the late 1990s that aimed to end U.S. support for foreign military units involved in “gross human rights violations.”

“Expect to see them in the coming days,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday when asked about the recommendations he had received to impose sanctions under the Leahy Act. When asked about the measure on Sunday, the State Department pointed to Blinken’s comments.

Netzah Yehuda has faced allegations of abuse against Palestinians in the West Bank for years, where the device was mainly deployed before the Israeli military expelled it from the area in early 2023 after mounting US criticism of its behavior.

In the most infamous incident a year earlier, an 80-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar As’ad, died in the middle of the night after being detained and tied up at a Netzah Yehuda checkpoint in the West Bank. A subsequent IDF investigation saw two non-commissioned officers dismissed from the unit, although no legal action was ever taken.

More recently, the unit – originally established as a route for ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the military, with all the attendant religious rituals – was deployed in the final stages of Israel’s major ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

According to Israeli military analysts, at least half of the unit’s recruits come from the radical lineage of the religious nationalist movement, including illegal settlements in the West Bank, while the ultra-Orthodox continue to reject compulsory military service.

The Biden administration and the EU have imposed a series of sanctions on several extremist Jewish settlers in recent months over attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Last week, the State Department announced measures against a handful of additional Israeli nationals, including Ben Zion Gopstein, a prominent settler activist and close political associate of Ben-Gvir.

Yet the Biden administration has also been a staunch ally and supporter of Israel in continuing the war against Hamas in Gaza, despite mounting international opprobrium.

President Joe Biden has reaffirmed his “ironclad” commitment to the security of the Jewish state. The US also helped Israel intercept a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones fired from Iran, passed a massive defense bill that includes aid to Israel, and vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have Palestinian state was recognized.

Yet Israeli behavior and policies in the West Bank, with its military occupation of more than five decades, are a major – and growing – point of difference, as US officials have consistently stated.

According to Israeli analysts, the real impact on Netzah Yehuda’s operations would be mainly felt in the supply of US-made equipment such as the M16 rifle, vehicles and equipment – ​​as well as US financial donations to the unit directly through a private foundation. But the broader significance for the IDF, some added, lay in the lack of confidence it showed in the Israeli military and legal system to independently investigate and prosecute any abuses by its soldiers.

The IDF said on Sunday that it was still unaware of the imposition of sanctions on the unit, but stressed that the battalion was currently fighting “professionally and courageously” in Gaza. . . in accordance with the IDF Code of Ethics and . . . international right”.

“The IDF remains committed to continuing to investigate exceptional incidents professionally and according to the law,” it added.

Additional reporting by James Politi in Washington