For the first time, the United States is expected to impose sanctions on an Israeli military unit. The Netzah Yehuda Battalion, initially created for ultra-Orthodox Jewish soldiers in Israel, quickly expanded to become a popular unit among radical right-wing settlers. The group has been accused for years of a series of human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The first news about the possible sanctions came over the weekend, when Israeli and US media reported that the Administration of US President Joe Biden was preparing to sanction Netzah Yehuda.
Citing three anonymous American sources “with knowledge of the matter,” the Axios news website He stated that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to announce the unprecedented measure against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “within days”.
The sanctions refer to alleged human rights violations committed by the unit in the West Bank before the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
The US would sanction Israeli military squad for human rights violations
“A unit every army should be ashamed of”
The news sparked angry reactions in Israel. “The IDF must not be sanctioned!”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a post on
Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's political rival and a key centrist minister in the Israeli war cabinet, responded similarly: “We greatly respect our American friends, but imposing sanctions on unity is a dangerous precedent and sends the wrong message to our common enemies.” in times of war.”
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
One of the main reasons for the anger is that the United States would need to invoke the Leahy Act of 1997 to sanction the battalion. Leahy has previously been used to blacklist Indonesian military units accused of kidnapping and murdering political activists, as well as members of the Pakistani military implicated in assassination campaigns in Afghanistan.
“Sanctioning an IDF unit is a terrible stain on the Israeli Defense Forces. If you look at the groups [anteriormente objeto de] sanctions, we will see that it is not going to be a good situation for the IDF to be part of it,” said Ahron Bregman, a political scientist and expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at King's College London, who added that “the Israelis will fight with all their strength to try to avoid it.”
He noted, however, that although the Netzah Yehuda is an integral part of the IDF, it is “a unit that every army should be ashamed of.”
“My fellow Israelis will hate me saying that, but Netzah Yehuda is a kind of Israeli-style Wagner Group.”he claimed.
Omri Brinner, an Israeli analyst and specialist in Middle East geopolitics at the International Team for the Verona Security Study (ITSS), said it was a bold comparison. “This is not a private military group fighting for money. They are an integral part of the IDF.”
But the Netzah Yehuda is no ordinary unit. Created in 1999, it was initially formed to accommodate ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Army, giving them time to maintain their religious practices and limiting interactions with female soldiers. Israel's ultra-Orthodox community is normally exempt from strict military service. Over the years, the unit's special status and benefits — it has a dedicated rabbi and its members have time set aside for prayers — have generated heated debate in Israel, with some criticizing the special treatment it has been given. granted.
Read alsoUltra-Orthodox Jews break with tradition and enlist in the Israeli Army
An explosive mix: ultra-Orthodox and radical settlers
Brinner noted that since Netzah Yehuda's creation, the unit has also morphed into “something different” from the “army for all” ideal it was intended to be. Especially after few ultra-Orthodox Jews, despite the advantages, were willing to enlist. To remedy this, the unit began recruiting beyond ultra-Orthodox circles.
“Some of them were hardened settlers who found the opportunity to serve in the West Bank, where they lived, and receive legitimacy to exercise their power over the Palestinians,” Brinner explained.
In a 2022 investigative report into allegations of abuse against Netzah Yehuda, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote that “one of the most controversial decisions surrounding the group was to limit service to the West Bank”.
Since then, incidents involving the unit have piled up. “Netzah Yehuda, with only 500 soldiers in the battalion, has the highest conviction rate of any Israeli Army unit for crimes against Palestinians since 2010,” the WSJ wrote, citing Israeli human rights group Yesh Din.
![The Netzah Yehuda Battalion is a battalion of the Kfir Brigade of the Israeli army that was created to allow religious Israelis to serve in the army in an environment of respect for their religious convictions. AFP PHOTO / Menahem Kahana](https://s.france24.com/media/display/a69f06ce-01c0-11ef-ba71-005056bfb2b6/000_Nic6329181.jpg)
Speaking with former members of the unit, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported how radical settlers began to consider the unit as “their own” battalion against the Palestinians.
“We would go out on routine operations in the villages and, suddenly, one of the guys would throw a stun grenade at a house or a passing car. It's usually just for laughs and because of the stories they've heard about what the guys have done. battalion veterans,” a former Netzah Yehuda soldier told the newspaper.
This explosive mix of ultra-Orthodox Jews and radical right-wing settlers meant that unity was long limited to the West Bank.: Deploying it near the Lebanese border or on the outskirts of Gaza was considered too dangerous. But, according to some Israeli media, the unit has been fighting inside Gaza since January 2024.
“It was a risky bet. When you have people like that, it's better to have them with you and be able to control them to a certain extent,” Brinner said.
The American investigation
However, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion went too far on January 12, 2022, even by American standards. That day, Omar Assad, 78, was detained by Netzah Yehuda soldiers and died of a heart attack. His body was later found abandoned at a construction site. The problem was that Assad had dual Palestinian-American citizenship and the United States opened a criminal investigation into the matter.
Read alsoUS Statement on Israel Defense Forces Report on Death of Omar Assad
Israel fired two officers over the incident and reprimanded the battalion commander, but never opened a criminal investigation. According to prosecutors, there was no connection between the mistakes made by the unit's soldiers and Assad's death.
In late 2022, the unit was reassigned to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria, near the Lebanese border. “The decision was made too late to move them out of the West Bank,” Brinner said.
![Israeli soldiers from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Netzah Yehuda battalion take part in their annual unit training in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, near the Syrian border, on May 19, 2014.](https://s.france24.com/media/display/275cf00a-01c1-11ef-b1e1-005056a90284/000_Nic6329177.jpg)
“The problem has been known for years. But it takes time for the United States to investigate it. They [los estadounidenses] They also looked for an opportunity to make the decision known. So, on the one hand, the Senate offered support [financiero] to the Israelis. And the other extreme is an upcoming decision to impose sanctions on this unit,” Bregman said.
And the challenge that Israel faces is not small. If sanctioned, the Netzah Yehuda will no longer be able to use US material, including weapons and ammunition. This means that the IDF will have to disband it or put it on alert until the sanctions are lifted.
But, above all, it would be a huge blow for the Israeli Government. “It is a clear message from the Americans to the Israelis that the latter are not doing enough to investigate illegal actions committed by troops, and when the Israelis investigate, the punishment is too light,” Bregman said.
This article has been adapted from the French original.
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