This is the thanks the USA gets for giving Israel another 27 Billion dollars
Israelis concerned by US sanctions on Netzah Yehuda military unit
Israel is a deeply polarised, divided country. But if there’s one thing that unites Israelis – it is support for the military.
Almost all Israelis have performed military service, so the idea that the United States is going to sanction the military battalion has come as a shock here and attracted criticism from across the political spectrum.
From the far right, we have National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir saying this is “crossing a red line”, we have Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling it “absolute madness” while Israel is fighting for its existence, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying it’s the “height of absurdity and a moral low”.
There’s also a fear here this battalion, made up of ultranationalists, was serving in the occupied West Bank and has now been moved to the occupied Golan Heights. There are also concerns the US may be looking at other army units. Will the US now look at the conduct of the Israeli military in Gaza since the beginning of October?
What is Netzah Yehuda, the Israeli battalion facing possible US sanctions?
The US is considering sanctions against Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, according to media reports, after a State Department panel recommended that Washington restrict arms sales to Israeli military units over credible accusations of human rights abuses.
The male-only Netzah Yehuda was formed in 1999 as a special unit for ultra-Orthodox Jewish soldiers. According to the battalion’s website, about 1,000 soldiers serve in the unit at any time.
The battalion is stationed in the occupied West Bank. Israel has long tried to get more religious ultra-Orthodox Jews to sign up to its armed forces, despite their exemption from compulsory service.
The State Department started investigating Netzah Yehuda over alleged abuses in late 2022, the Haaretz newspaper reported, including the killing of Palestinian-American Omar Assad, 80, in January of that year.
Israeli opposition leader says US sanctions are a ‘mistake’
As we’ve reported, the US is expected to issue sanctions on an Israeli military unit, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, stationed in the occupied West Bank. But Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called the move a “mistake”, adding the problem isn’t with the military but at the “political level”.
“The world understands and knows that [National Security] Minister [Itamar] Ben-Gvir does not want the police to enforce the law in the West Bank, and [Finance] Minister [Bezalel] Smotrich is not opposed to Jewish terrorism and extreme settler riots,” Lapid wrote on X.
“The result is serious harm to Israel’s status as a nation of law and another serious erosion of our international status.” He added soldiers and commanders are the “first to be harmed by the reckless policy and political failure of the government”.
US sanctions against Israeli army unit a ‘disappointing mistake’: Minister
As we’ve reported earlier, the United States is expected to issue sanctions on an Israeli military unit, the Netzah Yehuda battalion, stationed in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Minister of Education Yoav Kisch joined Israeli officials in expressing his outrage against the possible measure.
He said in a statement on X Israel will “work to prevent this” adding the sanctions would be “a grave, outrageous and disappointing mistake”
Israeli army spokesman praises Netzah Yehuda battalion, not familiar with US decision to sanction it
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari has claimed on X that the military is unaware of a decision by the United States to impose sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda battalion.
“If a decision is made on the matter, it will be examined,” and “the Israeli army is working and will continue to work to investigate every unusual incident based on fact and in accordance with the law”, he said in Hebrew.
Hagari said that “Netzah Yehuda soldiers are now participating in the war in the Gaza Strip with courage and professionalism, while maintaining the values and spirit of [the Israeli army] and the principles of international law”.
Israeli minister seeks sanctions against Palestinian Authority
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded the imposition of “immediate sanctions” against the Palestinian Authority in response to “the Biden administration’s political decision” to blacklist the Israeli military’s Netzar Yehuda battalion.
The army unit stationed in the occupied West Bank has been accused of human rights abuses by officials in the US State Department.
Ben-Gvir said on X he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene a political and security cabinet this evening to sanction the PA, confiscating its funds, and formulating “a series of severe sanctions against the Palestinian banks”.
Israel holds Palestinian economy captive
The Gaza war is speeding up Israel’s “annexation” of the Palestinian economy, say analysts, who argue it has been hobbled for decades by agreements that followed the Oslo Accords.
Israel is tightening the noose on the Palestinian Authority, which rules parts of the occupied West Bank, by withholding tax revenues it collects on its behalf, said economist Adel Samara.
Palestinian livelihoods have also been hurt by bans on labourers crossing into Israel and by a sharp downturn in tourism in the violence-plagued territory, including a quiet Christmas season in Bethlehem.
Samara said, “Technically speaking, there is no Palestinian economy under Israeli occupation – our economy has been effectively annexed by Israelis.”
