Sanctions against the IDF, the Israeli armed forces – such intentions were announced a few days ago by none other than the US Secretary of State, who is Israel’s closest ally. The plans mainly concern the Netzah Yehuda (“Judea Forever”) battalion, whose members are accused of violating the human rights of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories of the West Bank.
The media reports that the US is investigating five military units for suspected human rights abuses, but the planned sanctions target only one of them. The plans are to freeze all military aid to Netzah Yehuda and limit its members’ participation in US-funded training. The Israeli government has already announced it will fight these sanctions.
Religious military corps
The “Netzach Yehuda” battalion was founded at the end of the last century as a religious corps for special operations – the goal was to give the opportunity for military service even to ultra-Orthodox Jews who otherwise could not serve for religious reasons. In the religious corps they were provides time for prayers and the study of sacred texts, food meets strict religious requirements, and interaction with female soldiers is limited. Under the banners of the battalion in question, about 1,000 people march. Its existence is a controversial topic in Orthodox Jewish circles, which reject military service for themselves.
The soldiers in the battalion are volunteers because otherwise Orthodox Jews are exempt from military service. According to the law, any Israeli who has attended a religious school up to a certain age has the right to refuse military service. However, more and more politicians are demanding that this rule be changed. In fact, the Supreme Court already ruled in 1998 that this practice is discriminatory. But after the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel and the military response – the entry of the Israeli army into the Gaza Strip, many Orthodox Jews volunteered for the army.
The battalion includes both ultra-orthodox Jews and people with a religious-nationalist attitude. Among them are radical settlers on the West Bank who support the far-right party in the government coalition. The American news portal Axios also reports that over time, more and more supporters of the Hilltop youth organization joined the battalion – it is commented that these are radicalized young people from the settler movement who are prone to violence. This organization last week was sanctioned by the EU for attacks on Palestinians.
What are the Netzach Yehuda fighters accused of?
The “Netzah Yehuda” battalion was originally stationed in the occupied West Bank. At the end of 2022, it was transferred to northern Israel. And today it also participates in the battles in the Gaza Strip. The newspaper “Times of Israel” writes that the name of the battalion is often mentioned in the context of extremism and violence against Palestinians. According to Axios, the US government has been monitoring the battalion’s activities since 2022, when there were incidents of violent attacks against Palestinian civilians.
Men from this battalion allegedly held a nearly 80-year-old man shackled for hours. This Palestinian with an American passport died just a few hours later of a heart attack as a result of the stress he suffered – the Washington Post and other media believe that this stress caused his death. At the time, the Israeli armed forces condemned what was done as a “moral error”: those responsible had made a bad decision. Two officers were demoted, a third was reprimanded. But there was no prosecution.
The case attracted a lot of international attention – mostly because it involved an elderly man with dual citizenship. The US State Department even requested an investigation. And human rights activists list other cases of violence and torture against Palestinians.
“The height of moral decline”
The Israeli government reacted with outrage to the news of the planned sanctions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on the X social network a few days ago: “Sanctions cannot be imposed on the Israeli army” and added that his government will respond with all possible means. “At a time when our soldiers are fighting against the monsters of terror , the intention to sanction an IDF unit is the height of absurdity and moral decline,” the prime minister also wrote. And the Israeli armed forces, the IDF, announced that they had no information about sanctions against their units.
Sanctions against the Israeli army – this is something new. But the US has already imposed sanctions aimed at Israel: against extremist settlers and against Ben-Zion Gopstein, whom it considers a confidant of far-right National Security Minister Ben-Gvir. In addition, the US included in its sanctions lists two organizations that financially support extremist settlers. The American authorities have already blocked properties on the territory of the country. Another ban was issued: US citizens and people who are on US territory are not allowed to enter into business relations with the sanctioned organizations.
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