The Biden administration, which has come under pressure for its support of Israel’s war in Gaza, will not withhold military aid from a troubled military unit accused of human rights abuses in the West Bank, as long as Israel continues its measures to detain members of the responsible unit.
In an undated letter, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told House Speaker Mike Johnson that the United States was working with Israel to address accusations against the unit, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion. Although the letter did not mention the name of the battalion, a US official confirmed that Mr Blinken was referring to Netzah Yehuda, who was investigated for crimes in the West Bank before the Hamas attack. on October 7 which sparked the war in Gaza. .
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, said the Biden administration could still take action against Netzah Yehuda if it concludes that Israel had not taken sufficient steps to seek accountability to its members.
The letter, obtained by The New York Times, says the State Department determined that Netzah Yehuda committed “gross human rights violations” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
U.S. officials had reached similar conclusions regarding two other Israeli military units and two civilian units, the letter said, but in those cases the Biden administration had decided not to withhold military aid because Israel was already acting to “bring to justice” the guilty soldiers.
Mr Blinken assured Mr Johnson in the letter: reported earlier by ABC Newsthat the United States “will not delay the delivery of any American aid and that Israel may receive the full amount allocated by Congress.”
Under federal laws commonly known as Leahy Law, the US government must deny aid to foreign military units found guilty of gross human rights violations without accountability. The law allows targeting individual units without excluding entire foreign armies.
It is unclear what practical effect such a move might have, given that funding for specific Israeli units is difficult to track, and it is unclear whether the units mentioned in the letter receive U.S. training or equipment .
Yet last week’s announcement that U.S. officials were considering withholding aid to Israeli military units over abuses sparked a furious response from Israel and Mr. Johnson, a staunch government supporter. current Israeli. Mr Johnson said this week that he had called the White House in protest and had received written assurance that none of the billions in Additional US aid to Israel approved by Congress this week would be affected.
The Biden administration has faced growing calls to restrict U.S. aid to Israel because of its military offensive in Gaza in response to attacks by Hamas in October. President Biden has so far refused to impose conditions on US aid due to Israel’s devastating tactics in the Gaza war, although he has taken several steps in response to Israeli violence in the West Bank, including imposing sanctions against several Israeli settlers for what the United States called “extremist” acts of violence against Palestinians.
In his letter to the Republican House speaker, Mr. Blinken said that two Israeli battalions and “civil authority units,” none of which he named, had committed human rights violations. man, but that he had “determined that the Israeli government had carried out effective reparations”. the units involved. He defined reparation as a process by which a foreign government takes “effective measures to bring responsible members of the unit to justice.”
In the case of Netzah Yehuda, whom he did not cite by name, he said that “there has been no effective redress so far” but that the Israeli government “has presented new information regarding the status of the unit, and we will engage on this issue. identify a path to effective rehabilitation for this unit.
Mr. Blinken plans to visit Israel next week for meetings with Israeli leaders to discuss efforts to free Gaza hostages and an imminent Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, an Israeli official said Friday. It was not immediately clear whether he would speak about Netzah Yehuda. Mr. Blinken has discussed the issue by telephone with senior Israeli officials in recent days.
Under the terms of a 10-year security agreement between the United States and Israel in 2016, the United States must consult with Israeli officials before imposing restrictions on security assistance. This consultation is ongoing, according to the American official.
Netzah Yehuda, which was created to accommodate the religious practices of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, has been repeatedly accused of mistreating Palestinians.
In January 2022, according to witnesses, its soldiers tied up and gagged a 78-year-old Palestinian-American. who died of a heart attack while he was in military custody. A investigation concluded that the two soldiers who tied him up thought he was sleeping. The soldiers were disciplined but no criminal charges were filed.
The unit was transferred in 2022 from the West Bank to the Golan Heights in northern Israel, according to Mr. Blinken’s letter.
Mr. Blinken added that no other Israeli units had been found guilty of rights violations under the Leahy Act and that the administration’s deliberations “will have no impact on our support for Israel’s capability to defend against Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah or other threats.
.
