US to announce first sanc­tions against an IDF unit over actions in West Bank

In a his­toric first, the Unit­ed States is set to sanc­tion a unit of the Israel Defense Forces.
Accord­ing to three sources speak­ing with Axios, Sec­re­tary of State Antony Blinken will announce sanc­tions against the IDF’s 97th Net­zah Yehu­da Bat­tal­ion. Notably, the sanc­tions are not due to any actions dur­ing the war in Gaza, but rather human rights abus­es com­mit­ted in the West Bank before Oct. 7, 2023.

This pho­to released by the Israeli mil­i­tary on Thurs­day, Nov. 2, 2023, shows ground oper­a­tions inside the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)

The bat­tal­ion is made up of ultra-Ortho­dox Jews with an empha­sis on accom­mo­dat­ing their reli­gious prac­tices. Fol­low­ing the low enlist­ment rates among ultra-Ortho­dox Jews, the bat­tal­ion recent­ly began to accept far-right youth who were reject­ed from oth­er com­bat units. It has not been involved in active com­bat oper­a­tions in Gaza.
Among the human rights abus­es cit­ed was its involve­ment in the death of elder­ly Pales­tin­ian Amer­i­can Omar Assad, who died after he was hand­cuffed, gagged, and forced to lie on his stom­ach for an extend­ed peri­od. Israel launched an inves­ti­ga­tion into the inci­dent but decid­ed against pur­su­ing crim­i­nal charges against any­one involved, choos­ing only to “rep­ri­mand” one of the com­man­ders.
The sanc­tions against the unit will pro­hib­it it from receiv­ing any U.S. mil­i­tary aid, par­tic­i­pat­ing in activ­i­ties receiv­ing Amer­i­can fund­ing, and tak­ing part in train­ing with the U.S. mil­i­tary.
Sev­er­al oth­er units were inves­ti­gat­ed by the U.S. for abus­es but cleared after rem­e­dy­ing the behav­ior. The sanc­tions against the Net­zah Yehu­da Bat­tal­ion will be r …