International US set to impose sanctions on Israeli military unit over abuses: Report Israeli prime minister says he will fight any sanctions targeting Israeli mili

[LeonardoBjj]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would fight against any sanctions being imposed on Israeli military units for alleged rights violations, after a United States media outlet reported that Washington was planning such a step.

The US-based Axios news site on Saturday reported that Washington was planning to impose sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has operated in the occupied West Bank, though the Israeli military said it was not aware of any such measures.

Israeli media also identified the unit expected to be targeted as Netzah Yehuda – an infantry battalion founded roughly a quarter of a century ago to incorporate ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into the military.

On Friday, the US announced a new series of sanctions linked to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, in the latest sign of growing US frustration with the policies of Netanyahu, whose coalition government relies on settler parties.

“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the [Israeli army] – I will fight it with all my strength,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said in a statement on Sunday that he spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and asked him to reconsider the matter.

Gantz said any such sanctions would be a mistake because they would harm Israel’s legitimacy during a time of war.

Blinken said on Friday that he made “determinations” regarding accusations that Israel violated a set of US laws that prohibit providing military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights.

Blinken, without providing details, said his department was conducting investigations under a law that prohibits sending military aid to foreign security units that violate human rights with impunity.

He then added: “I think it’s fair to say that you’ll see results very soon. I’ve made determinations; you can expect to see them in the days ahead.”

Killing ‘for no real reason’​

Separately, on Sunday, Israeli Labour Party leader Merav Michaeli called for dismantling the Netzah Yehuda army unit, saying it is killing Palestinians “for no real reason”.

“The sanctions are an acknowledgment of the reality and an understanding that Israel’s conduct in the territories cannot continue,” Michaeli said on X.

“The violent and corrupt conduct of the Netzah Yehuda battalion and those around it has been known for years, and nothing has been done to stop it.”

Earlier this week, the ProPublica investigative news organisation reported that a special US Department of State panel known as the Israel Leahy Vetting Forum had recommended months ago to Blinken that multiple Israeli military and police units be disqualified from receiving US aid, after allegations of human rights violations.

The incidents that were the subject of allegations took place in the occupied West Bank and mostly occurred before Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, the outlet said.

Before the Gaza war, violence had already been surging in the West Bank, and it has risen since with frequent Israeli military raids, Israeli settler rampages in Palestinian villages and Palestinian attacks on Israeli forces and settlers.

The Israeli military said the Netzah Yehuda battalion is an active combat unit that operates according to the principles of international law.

The Israeli army said that “following publications about sanctions against the battalion”, it was “not aware of the issue”.


“If a decision is made on the matter it will be reviewed,” it said, pledging to “continue to work to investigate any unusual event in a practical manner and according to law”.

In 2022, Netzah Yehuda’s battalion commander was reprimanded and two officers were dismissed over the death of an elderly Palestinian-American who the unit’s soldiers had detained in the West Bank, an incident that stirred concern in Washington.

There have been several other incidents in recent years, some captured on video, in which Netzah Yehuda soldiers were accused of or charged with abusing Palestinian detainees.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024...s-on-israeli-military-unit-over-abuses-report

 

[IndyCovaHart]

This is it

 

[Siver!]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would fight against any sanctions being imposed on Israeli military units for alleged rights violations, after a United States media outlet reported that Washington was planning such a step.

The US-based Axios news site on Saturday reported that Washington was planning to impose sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has operated in the occupied West Bank, though the Israeli military said it was not aware of any such measures.

Israeli media also identified the unit expected to be targeted as Netzah Yehuda – an infantry battalion founded roughly a quarter of a century ago to incorporate ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into the military.

On Friday, the US announced a new series of sanctions linked to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, in the latest sign of growing US frustration with the policies of Netanyahu, whose coalition government relies on settler parties.

“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the [Israeli army] – I will fight it with all my strength,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said in a statement on Sunday that he spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and asked him to reconsider the matter.

Gantz said any such sanctions would be a mistake because they would harm Israel’s legitimacy during a time of war.

Blinken said on Friday that he made “determinations” regarding accusations that Israel violated a set of US laws that prohibit providing military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights.

Blinken, without providing details, said his department was conducting investigations under a law that prohibits sending military aid to foreign security units that violate human rights with impunity.

He then added: “I think it’s fair to say that you’ll see results very soon. I’ve made determinations; you can expect to see them in the days ahead.”

Killing ‘for no real reason’​

Separately, on Sunday, Israeli Labour Party leader Merav Michaeli called for dismantling the Netzah Yehuda army unit, saying it is killing Palestinians “for no real reason”.

“The sanctions are an acknowledgment of the reality and an understanding that Israel’s conduct in the territories cannot continue,” Michaeli said on X.

“The violent and corrupt conduct of the Netzah Yehuda battalion and those around it has been known for years, and nothing has been done to stop it.”

Earlier this week, the ProPublica investigative news organisation reported that a special US Department of State panel known as the Israel Leahy Vetting Forum had recommended months ago to Blinken that multiple Israeli military and police units be disqualified from receiving US aid, after allegations of human rights violations.

The incidents that were the subject of allegations took place in the occupied West Bank and mostly occurred before Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, the outlet said.

Before the Gaza war, violence had already been surging in the West Bank, and it has risen since with frequent Israeli military raids, Israeli settler rampages in Palestinian villages and Palestinian attacks on Israeli forces and settlers.

The Israeli military said the Netzah Yehuda battalion is an active combat unit that operates according to the principles of international law.

The Israeli army said that “following publications about sanctions against the battalion”, it was “not aware of the issue”.


“If a decision is made on the matter it will be reviewed,” it said, pledging to “continue to work to investigate any unusual event in a practical manner and according to law”.

In 2022, Netzah Yehuda’s battalion commander was reprimanded and two officers were dismissed over the death of an elderly Palestinian-American who the unit’s soldiers had detained in the West Bank, an incident that stirred concern in Washington.

There have been several other incidents in recent years, some captured on video, in which Netzah Yehuda soldiers were accused of or charged with abusing Palestinian detainees.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024...s-on-israeli-military-unit-over-abuses-report

Good share.

BBC also covered this, so I'd shared to the Israel thread, but actually this has little if anything to do with Hamas or Gaza.

This is about flagrant, long-standing abuses of international law in the West Bank.

I'm delighted to see the US taking a stand on this, and find Netanyahu's tantrums pretty funny. Like he has any say in what the United States does or does not sanction, the giant manbaby. I was expecting this to happen last year, but clearly was overly optimistic. It's taken a long time, but is clearly just and right.

 

[mjfan23]

long overdue!

 

[Jacket time]

When is Israel going to sign the non- proliferation treaty.
They bitch about Iran for the past 30 yrs.

How are they allowed not to have Nuke inspections?

 

[Dalarna3]

I’m shocked. I guess there is an end in sight for us support of Israel.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Good share.

BBC also covered this, so I'd shared to the Israel thread, but actually this has little if anything to do with Hamas or Gaza.

This is about flagrant, long-standing abuses of international law in the West Bank.

I'm delighted to see the US taking a stand on this, and find Netanyahu's tantrums pretty funny. Like he has any say in what the United States does or does not sanction, the giant manbaby. I was expecting this to happen last year, but clearly was overly optimistic. It's taken a long time, but is clearly just and right.

- I never thought i would see the Israel politicians hold responsible for the atrocities.!

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Gaza war has had negative impact on human rights, says US state department​

Arbitrary or unlawful killings, enforced disappearance, torture and unjustified arrests of journalists among issues, report says

Palestinian women mourn near the bodies of those killed in Israeli strikes in Rafah on 21 April 2024. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

The war between Israel and Hamas that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis has had “a significant negative impact” on the human rights situation in the country, the US state department said in its annual report on Monday.

Significant human rights issues include credible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings, enforced disappearance, torture and unjustified arrests of journalists among others, said the state department’s 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, denied that Washington has a “double standard” when applying US law to allegations of abuses by the Israeli military in Gaza and said that examinations of such charges are ongoing.

“In general, as we’re looking at human rights and the condition of human rights around the world, we apply the same standard to everyone,” Blinken told a briefing at which he unveiled the annual human rights report.’

“That doesn’t change whether the country is an adversary, a competitor, a friend or an ally,” he continued.
The report said that the Israeli government has taken some credible steps to identify and punish the officials who may have been involved in those abuses.

Israel’s military conduct has come under increasing scrutiny as its forces have killed 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the enclave’s health authorities, many of them civilians and children. The Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip has been reduced to a wasteland, and extreme food shortages have prompted fears of famine.

Israel launched its assault in response to a Hamas attack on 7 October, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed.
Rights groups have flagged numerous incidents of civilian harm during the Israeli army’s offensive in Gaza, as well as raised alarm about rising violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Palestinian health ministry records show Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 460 Palestinians since 7 October.

But so far the Biden administration has said it has not found Israel in breach of international law.

Washington gives $3.8bn in annual military assistance to its longtime ally. Leftist Democrats and Arab American groups have criticized the Biden administration’s steadfast support for Israel, which they say provides it with a sense of impunity.
But this month, Joe Biden for the first time threatened to condition support for Israel, and insisted that it take concrete steps to protect humanitarian aid workers and civilians.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/22/israel-gaza-impact-human-rights

 

[Islam Imamate]

Leftist protesters will still say that Biden is no better than Trump.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Another ex-State Department official alleges Israeli military gets ‘special treatment’ on abuses​

BY ELLEN KNICKMEYER
Updated 6:44 PM BRT, April 24, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former senior U.S. official who until recently helped oversee human-rights compliance by foreign militaries receiving American military assistance said Wednesday that he repeatedly observed Israel receiving “special treatment” from U.S. officials when it came to scrutiny of allegations of Israeli military abuses of Palestinian civilians.

The allegation comes as the Biden administration faces intense pressure over its ally’s treatment of Palestinian civilians during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. And matters because of who said it: Charles O. Blaha. Before leaving the post in August, he was a director of a State Department security and human rights office closely involved in helping ensure that foreign militaries receiving American military aid follow U.S. and international humanitarian and human rights laws.

Blaha said his departure from the State Department after decades of service was not related to the U.S.-Israeli security relationship. He is the second senior State official involved in that relationship to assert that when it comes to Israel, the U.S. is reluctant to enforce laws required of foreign militaries receiving American aid.

“In my experience, Israel gets special treatment that no other country gets,” Blaha said. “And there is undue deference, in many cases, given” to Israeli officials’ side of things when the U.S. asks questions about allegations of Israeli wrongdoing against Palestinians, he added.



He spoke to reporters at an event where he and other members of an unofficial, self-formed panel of former senior U.S. civilian and military officials released a report pointing to civilian deaths in specific airstrikes in Gaza. They said there was “compelling and credible” evidence that Israeli forces had acted illegally.

Blaha’s comments echoed those of another State Department official and panel member, Josh Paul. Paul resigned as a director overseeing arms transfers to other countries’ militaries in October in protest of the U.S. rushing arms to Israel amid its war in Gaza.

Asked about the allegations from the two, a State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, said “there is no double standard, and there is no special treatment.”

Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel consistently says it follows all laws in its use of U.S. military aid, investigates allegations against its security forces and holds offenders accountable.

Israel historically is the United States’ biggest recipient of military aid, and Biden on Wednesday signed legislation for an additional $26 billion in wartime assistance. But Biden has come under growing pressure over that support as Palestinian deaths mount.

The latest Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a cross-border attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel. Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza that has caused widespread devastation and killed more than 34,000 people, according to local health officials.

In coming days, the administration says it will announce its official findings from reviews it did into allegations of especially serious human rights abuses by specific Israeli military units. Those units would be barred from receiving U.S. military aid if the U.S. review confirms those allegations.

Separately, the Biden administration also is expected to disclose by May 8 whether it has verified assurances from Israel that the country is not using U.S. military aid in a way that violates international or human rights law. Both Israel’s written assurance and the U.S. verification were mandated by a new presidential national security memo that Biden issued in February.

The February agreement was negotiated between the Biden administration and members of his own Democratic Party, who had been pushing for the U.S. to begin conditioning military aid to Israel on improving treatment of Palestinian civilians.

Panel members released their report Wednesday to urge the U.S. to scrutinize specific attacks in Gaza that the former officials argued should lead to a conclusion that Israel was wrong when it confirmed it was complying with the laws. If that determination is made, the U.S. could then suspend military aid.

Wednesday’s unofficial report points to 17 specific strikes on apartments, refugee camps, private homes, journalists and aid workers for which the former U.S. officials and independent experts allege there’s no evidence of the kind of military target present to justify the high civilian death tolls.

They include an Oct. 31 airstrike on a Gaza apartment building that killed 106 civilians, including 54 children. Israeli officials offered no reason for the strike, and a Human Rights Watch probe found no evidence of a military target there, the officials said. Israel has said in many of the instances that it is investigating.

https://apnews.com/article/us-israel-military-aid-international-law-1e9b612631a7c20438053189c3b62187

 

[Rod1]

Not surprised, make an unit full of religious wing nuts and set them off with little to none repercussions into a defenseless population. Abuses are bound to happen.

Sadly these are election times and Israel has no issue interfering in American affairs so i guess any kind of action would need to wait until after November.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

US finds Israeli units committed human rights abuses before Gaza war​

State department says five units mostly from IDF but including at least one police unit responsible for gross violations in West Bank

The US has found five units of the Israeli security forces responsible for gross violations of human rights, over incidents in the West Bank before the current Gaza war, the state department has said.

The findings come at a time when Israel is facing potential accountability from the international criminal court and the state department for its conduct of the conflict in Gaza, in which more than 34,000 people have been killed.

The units found to be involved in abuses in the West Bank are mostly from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) but include at least one police unit. They have not been sanctioned, however, the state department said.

Four of the units were judged to have carried out effective remedial action after the US state department shared its findings with Israel.

The fifth, an ultra-orthodox military unit known as Netzah Yehuda, drawn in part from West Bank settlers, was about to be blacklisted earlier this month under the Leahy laws, which ban US funding of any foreign military units involved in atrocities.

The unit had carried out no apparent remedial action despite having been alerted to the abuses and Israeli government lawyers had ignored communications about the issue for months, according to US officials.

Shortly before the sanctions were due to be announced, however, Israeli government lawyers urgently contacted Washington and insisted that under the current 10-year US memorandum of understanding governing military relations with Israel signed in 2018, Israel should be given more time to respond to the US finding. US officials stressed that Leahy sanctions remained under consideration.

“After a careful process, we found five Israeli units responsible for individual incidents of gross violations of human rights. All of these were incidents much before October 7 and none took place in Gaza,” a state department spokesperson, Vedant Patel, said.

“Four of these units have effectively remediated these violations, which is what we expect partners to do … For a remaining unit, we continue to be in consultations and engagements with the government of Israel.”

The Guardian reported in January that the Leahy laws were interpreted by different, more lenient rules in Israel compared with other countries.

Netzah Yehuda is notorious for a series of incidents involving abuse of Palestinians in the West Bank. In 2022, the battalion commander was reprimanded and the platoon commander and company commander were removed from their positions following the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian American man, Omar Assad, who suffered a heart attack after being detained, bound and gagged by members of the unit at a West Bank checkpoint.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/29/idf-human-rights-violation-gaza-us-state-department

 

[cottagecheesefan]

Leftist protesters will still say that Biden is no better than Trump.

Sanctions on just one unit or two?

Seems pretty pointless and will have no effect. "Here, we are giving you a couple tens of billions of dollars, PLEASE do NOT give any to the very BAD battalion, or we will have Blinken make a statement! Mayhaps we will have Jake Sullivan stand next to him during the statement!"

 

[Andy Capp]

Leftist protesters will still say that Biden is no better than Trump.

They will?

 

[blackheart]

Leftist protesters will still say that Biden is no better than Trump.

Holy fuck the audacity to get all high and mighty over this. Like Biden hasn't given billions of dollars in arms and aid to a government carrying out an ethnic cleansing. Like Biden hasn't pledged unwavering support to Israel as they massacred 30,000 innocents in front of the world's eyes.

Biden - "ok ok, after 75 years of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and illegal land seizures, we will timidly enact this tiny little narrowly focused sanction. p-p-p-pwease stop murdering children now?"
Liberals - "WOOOOOO VICTORY LAP TIME. LOOK AT THAT!!! BIDEN IS REALLY STANDING UP TO ISRAEL!!! WOOOOOOOOO SEE LEFTISTS?! TAKE THAT!"

fucking embarrassing

"If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out that's not progress. Progress is healing the wound that the blow made. And they haven't even pulled the knife out much less heal the wound. They won't even admit the knife is there." - Malcolm X

 

[Islam Imamate]

Sanctions on just one unit or two?

Seems pretty pointless and will have no effect. "Here, we are giving you a couple tens of billions of dollars, PLEASE do NOT give any to the very BAD battalion, or we will have Blinken make a statement! Mayhaps we will have Jake Sullivan stand next to him during the statement!"

Do you think Trump would sanction the battalion? He'd do the opposite, after all the he pardoned Blackwater mercs that fired into a crowd of civilians.

They will?

Yes. Exhibit A

Holy fuck the audacity to get all high and mighty over this. Like Biden hasn't given billions of dollars in arms and aid to a government carrying out an ethnic cleansing. Like Biden hasn't pledged unwavering support to Israel as they massacred 30,000 innocents in front of the world's eyes.

Biden - "ok ok, after 75 years of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and illegal land seizures, we will timidly enact this tiny little narrowly focused sanction. p-p-p-pwease stop murdering children now?"
Liberals - "WOOOOOO VICTORY LAP TIME. LOOK AT THAT!!! BIDEN IS REALLY STANDING UP TO ISRAEL!!! WOOOOOOOOO SEE LEFTISTS?! TAKE THAT!"

fucking embarrassing

"If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out that's not progress. Progress is healing the wound that the blow made. And they haven't even pulled the knife out much less heal the wound. They won't even admit the knife is there." - Malcolm X

 

[Andy Capp]

Do you think Trump would sanction the battalion? He'd do the opposite, after all the he pardoned Blackwater mercs that fired into a crowd of civilians.

Yes. Exhibit A

Strictly speaking, while that's strong criticism it doesn't explicitly say what you claimed. Anyway, it's whatever, fine. I think progressives and regular ol' liberals will come out in droves to vote against Trump no matter what they say now with regard to the circumstances in Israel. So you may be right that people say things like that but I'd bet the larger part of them vote for him anyway. I have done so already, actually.

 

[blackheart]

Do you think Trump would sanction the battalion? He'd do the opposite, after all the he pardoned Blackwater mercs that fired into a crowd of civilians.

Yes. Exhibit A

So one is 100% bad and the other is 99.9% bad. That's not something you do a victory lap over. The core of the issue - the endless tide of support, weapons and military aid, is completely unaffected.

 

[Scerpi]

Leftist protesters will still say that Biden is no better than Trump.

Well played...

Biden is starting to cave, but it'll never be enough.

 

[Prutfis]

Israel will never be held accountable for anything as long as the US is their bitch