The US government has determined that three Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units committed human rights violations against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, but will still continue military aid to Israel, according to reports.
Under the so-called Leahy Law, the US Departments of State and Defense are prohibited from extending military assistance to foreign armies and law enforcement units that are proven to have flagrantly violated human rights. There is an exception, however, for when steps have been taken “to bring to justice the responsible members of the unit,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined in an undated letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson obtained by ABC News and AP on Friday.
The accusations against two civilian and three military units, including the Netzah Yehuda Battalion composed primarily of ultra-Orthodox Jews, stem from incidents unrelated to the war against Hamas in Gaza.
According to Blinken, four units have since undergone “proper remediation steps,” and Israel has promised to deal with the remaining one in the near future. According to previous reports, the unit in question is the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, which was redeployed to the Golan Heights in Syria in January last year after a “relatively large number of incidents” in which soldiers were arrested for beating Palestinians.
“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,” Blinken wrote.
Even though the US has determined that three battalions under review committed “gross human rights violations,” the findings “will not delay the delivery of any US assistance and Israel will be able to receive the full amount appropriated by Congress,” Blinken wrote.
“This will have no impact on our support for Israel’s ability to defend itself against Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, or other threats,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the idea of sanctioning the IDF last week, adding that he has been in touch with US officials to work against the potential decision. At a time when the IDF is “fighting terrorist monsters,” this intention is “the height of absurdity and a moral low,” he wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter), insisting his government will act “by all means against these moves.”