Israel in shock as US poised to sanction IDF unit

The US government is set to impose sanctions on the Israeli military’s Netzah Yehuda battalion for oppressing Palestinians in the West Bank, marking the first of its kind move by Washington, Israeli media reported.

The battalion has been at the center of several controversies in the past connected to right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians, notably including the 2022 death of Omar As’ad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American who died after being detained, handcuffed, blindfolded, and later abandoned in near-freezing conditions by soldiers of the battalion.

Israel moved the unit out of the West Bank in December 2022 — though it denied it did so due to soldiers’ behavior — and it has since served mostly in the country’s north. It has also been deployed to the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war against Hamas.

The reported US plan drew a scathing response from Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The IDF must not be sanctioned!” he wrote on X. “I’ve been working in recent weeks against the sanctioning of Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with the American administration.

“At a time when our soldiers are fighting terrorist monsters, the intention to issue sanctions against a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low,” he added, committing to fight the move.

Centrist war cabinet minister Benny Gantz joined the criticism, saying the infantry unit was “an integral part of the IDF” and was bound by military and international law. He added that Israel has “strong and independent” courts capable of dealing with alleged violations.

“We have great respect for our American friends, but imposing sanctions on the unit is a dangerous precedent and sends the wrong message to our shared enemies at a time of war,” Gantz said, while pledging to “take action so this decision does not pass.”

The expressions of surprise and anger in Israel came shortly after leaders voiced profound gratitude to the US after the US House passed a major military aid package for the Jewish state.

Citing unnamed American sources, the Axios report said the sanctions would bar the transfer of US weapons to the largely ultra-Orthodox infantry unit and prevent its soldiers from training with US forces or taking part in any activities with US funding, under the Leahy Laws.

Authored by then-senator Patrick Leahy in the late 1990s, the laws prohibit providing military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights and have not been brought to justice.

One of the sources was quoted saying that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had decided not to sanction other military and police units that the administration was investigating, as it had seen adjustments in their conduct.

An administration official told the news site that the decision to sanction Netzah Yehuda was based on research done before 7 October that examined incidents in the West Bank.