ANDUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed this Monday that his department has an investigation “ongoing” into alleged human rights violations by Israel. and denied having a double standard when investigating his ally.
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This is how the head of US diplomacy expressed himself at a press conference to present the annual report prepared by the State Department on the situation of human rights in the world.
Blinken said that the investigation is “ongoing” and recalled the importance of the State Department taking the time necessary to do a correct analysis and reach a conclusion.
“When we have collected the facts and are able to do the analysis, we will make our findings known,” he explained.
The US Secretary of State and the Prime Minister of Israel.
Photo:
In the coming days, Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion for possible human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.
US law prohibits providing foreign aid to military units responsible for human rights violations
Blinken spoke by phone on Sunday about this issue with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz.
“The height of absurdity”
For his part, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned last Saturday that the United States intends to impose sanctions against Netzah Yehuda.
“While our soldiers fight against terrorist monsters, the intention to impose sanctions on an Army unit is the height of absurdity,” the president wrote on his X account, and warned that his Government will act to avoid these measures “by all means.”
אסור להטיל סנקציות על צבא ההגנה לישראל!
**
אני פועל בשבועות האחרונים נגד הטלת סנקציות על אזרחים ישראלים, כולל בשיחות שלי עם בכירי הממשל האמריקני.בשעה שחיילינו נלחמים במפלצות הטרור, הכוונה להטיל סנקציה על יחידה ב צה״ל זה שיא האבסורד ושפל ערכי.
הממשלה בראשותי תפעל בכל האמצעים…
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 20, 2024
“In recent years, the battalion's fighters have been at the center of operational activities 24 hours a day, in order to maintain the security of the citizens of the State of Israel, in addition to being a leading battalion in the integration of ultra-Orthodox fighters,” the Army said.
In their message, the armed forces said they knew nothing about the sanctions that the US is supposedly preparing, and that any decision in this regard will be studied and investigated.
Citing Israeli official sources, Israeli YNet says the US will not impose sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the Israeli military.
“the reasonable estimate is that we will be able to convince the Americans not to impose these sanctions,” the sources said. pic.twitter.com/6LIFX1b3KC
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 24, 2024
“Sanctions on our soldiers are a red line,” Ben Givr stated in his X account yesterday, who at the same time asked the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, to give his full support to the members of this unit.
For his part, Smotrich called the possible decision by the United States “absolute madness” and assured that this is part of a plan to force the State of Israel to accept the recognition of a Palestinian State.
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החלטה להטיל סנקציות אמריקאיות על צה״ל בזמן שישראל נלחמת על קיומה ה יא טירוף מוחלט.
“””ל ולכל” נת ישראל.
זה חלק ממהלך מתוכנן לכפות על מדינת ישראל להסכים להקמת מדינה פלסטינ ית ולהפקיר את ביטחון ישראל.— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) April 20, 2024
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