The Biden administration, under pressure for its support for Israel's war in Gaza, has threatened to force military access to troubled forces accused of human rights abuses in the West Bank as long as Israel continues to take measures to detain members of the Gaza Strip. We will not withhold aid. responsible unit.
In an undated letter, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told House Speaker Mike Johnson that the United States is working with Israel to address the charges against the Netza Yehuda Battalion. The letter does not mention the battalion by name, but U.S. officials said Mr. Blinken was under criminal investigation in the West Bank even before the October 7 Hamas-led attack that sparked the war in Gaza. I confirmed that he was referring to Netza Yehuda. .
The Biden administration could take action against Netza Yehuda if it concludes that Israel has not taken sufficient steps to hold member states accountable, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters. He said there are also.
The State Department determined that Netza Yehuda committed “serious human rights violations” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to a letter obtained by The New York Times.
According to the letter, U.S. officials have reached similar findings in two other Israeli military units and two civilian units, but in these cases Israel has already acted to “bring justice” to guilty soldiers. As a result, the Biden administration has decided not to withhold military aid.
Blinken assured Johnson in the letter that the United States “will not delay providing any aid and that Israel will receive the full amount appropriated by Congress,” ABC News reported earlier.
Under a federal law commonly known as the Leahy Act, the U.S. government must deny aid to foreign military units found to have committed serious human rights violations without accountability. The law allows targeting of individual foreign forces without cutting off the entire force.
Given that funding for specific Israeli units is difficult to track and it is unclear whether the units mentioned in the letter receive American training or equipment, it is unclear how such a move would actually work. It is not clear whether it will have a significant impact.
Still, news last week that U.S. authorities were considering withholding aid from Israeli military units over abuses prompted an furious reaction from Mr. Johnson, a strong supporter of Israel and the current Israeli government. Ta. Johnson said he called the White House this week to complain and received written assurances that the billions of dollars in additional U.S. aid to Israel approved by Congress this week would not be affected.
The Biden administration faces growing calls to limit U.S. aid to Israel over military strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to a Hamas-led offensive in October. President Biden has so far refused to put conditions on U.S. aid against Israel's devastating tactics in the Gaza war, but he has also refused to put conditions on U.S. aid in response to Israeli violence in the West Bank. The country has taken several measures, including imposing sanctions on several Israeli settlers for their actions. It has been described as an act of “extremist” violence against Palestinians.
In a letter to the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Blinken said that while neither the two Israeli battalions nor the “civilian authority units” he had nominated committed human rights abuses, “the Israeli government is not effective in combating human rights abuses.” We believe that appropriate corrections have been made.” the troops involved. ” He defined redress as the process by which a foreign government takes “effective steps to bring responsible members of the force to justice.”
In the case of Netza Yehuda, he said, without naming names, that “no effective remediation has taken place to date,” but that the Israeli government “is presenting new information regarding the situation in the unit, and we are doing everything in our power to We will work on it.” Identify paths to effective restoration of this sector. ”
Blinken will visit Israel next week and meet with Israeli leaders to discuss efforts to free hostages from Gaza and the impending Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Israeli officials said on Friday. revealed. It is not immediately clear whether he will discuss Netza Yehuda. Mr. Blinken has discussed the issue by phone with senior Israeli officials in recent days.
Under the terms of the 10-year security agreement the United States and Israel signed in 2016, the United States must consult Israeli officials before imposing limits on security assistance. U.S. officials say those talks are ongoing.
Netza Yehuda, created to accommodate the religious practices of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, has been repeatedly accused of mistreating Palestinians.
In January 2022, a 78-year-old Palestinian American was bound and gagged by his soldiers and died of a heart attack while in military custody, according to witnesses. An investigation concluded that the two soldiers who detained the man thought he was asleep. The soldiers were disciplined, but no criminal charges were filed.
According to Blinken's letter, the unit will be relocated from the West Bank to the Golan Heights in northern Israel in 2022.
Blinken said that no other Israeli forces had been found guilty of violations of rights under the Leahy Act and that the administration's deliberations were “in line with our support for Israel's ability to defend itself from Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah and other threats.” There will be no impact,” he added.
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