The State Department is delaying imposing sanctions on the IDF's Netzah Yehuda battalion over alleged human rights breaches while it reviews new information provided to the U.S. by Israel, reports Axios.
"The Israeli government has presented new information regarding the status of the unit and we will engage on identifying a path to effective remediation for this unit," Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., though he didn't name Netzah Yehuda.
"But this will have no impact on our support for Israel's ability to defend itself against Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, or other threats," he assured Johnson.
Blinken did say three military battalions with the IDF committed "gross human rights violations" against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
The Netzah Yehuda battalion is an integral component of the IDF and subject to military law. It must also fully comply with the norms and principles of international law that apply to Israel, which is receiving aid from the U.S. — Israel historically is the United States' biggest recipient of military aid, and President Joe 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 incident in question, according to an Israeli official who spoke with Axios, was posted to TikTok and took place in 2022. It showed soldiers from the battalion filming themselves abusing Palestinian detainees.
The Leahy law requires an automatic cutoff of aid to a military unit if the State Department finds credible evidence that it has committed gross abuses. A second Leahy law says the same for Defense Department training of foreign militaries.
Rights groups long have accused U.S. administrations, including Biden's, of shirking rigorous investigations of allegations of Israeli military killings and other abuses against Palestinians to avoid invoking such laws aimed at conditioning military aid to lawful behavior by foreign forces.
It allows an exception for countries that have taken steps "to bring to justice the responsible members of the unit," according to Blinken's letter.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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