Biden backing down to Netanyahu certainly won't get a ceasefire through.
US will not impose sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion: Report
Axios is reporting that US President Joe Biden’s administration has decided to end an investigation into potential rights violations by the unit in the occupied West Bank. Citing two senior US and Israeli officials, Axios said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of the change in a conversation today.
Israeli media had previously reported that Washington would impose sanctions on the battalion over accusations its members have committed rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Biden will not let ‘extremists’ derail truce talks: White House
White House spokesperson John Kirby says the Biden administration will not allow “extremists”, including in Israel, to push Gaza ceasefire talks off course.
Kirby also accused Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of making false claims. He said Smotrich’s claim that a ceasefire deal would amount to surrendering to Hamas or that captives should not be exchanged for prisoners is “dead wrong” and accused the minister of misleading the Israeli public.
You just caved into Smotrich, not sanctioning his extremist settler battalion... US always does the opposite of what they say.
US releases $3.5 billion to Israel to spend on US weapons and military equipment, months after Congress appropriated
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/09/politics/us-releases-billions-israel-weapons-military-equipment/index.html
The US is set to provide Israel with $3.5 billion to spend on US weapons and military equipment, releasing the money months after it was appropriated by Congress as tensions continue to rise between Israel and Iran, multiple officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
“The funding is essentially money Israel can use to buy advanced weapons systems and other equipment from the US through the Foreign Military Financing program,”
Biden admin says Netzah Yehuda battalion can still receive US assistance
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has now confirmed that the Biden administration will not sanction the Israeli military unit.
Miller said in an email to Reuters that after new information provided by Israel, the US has determined that alleged human rights violations carried out by the Netzah Yehuda battalion have been “effectively remediated”.
Miller added that the military unit could continue to receive US security assistance following the determination.
The US had called for a criminal investigation after battalion soldiers were accused of being involved in the death of an elderly Palestinian-American man, Omar Assad, in the occupied West Bank in 2022.
Before receiving new information in April, Washington was reportedly intending to designate the unit under a US law that prohibits military assistance to those committing gross human rights violations.
So it was just more virtue signalling. Israel says it's ok, here have some more money. Disgusting. The whole Settler movement is a human rights violation as confirmed by the ICJ ruling on the occupation, apartheid and slow annexation of the West Bank. Nvm the daily attacks from Settlers.
