The following link goes to Haaretz it is behind a paywall but I’ll copy the main arguments
Analysis |
Instead of Sanctioning a Rogue Battalion, the U.S. Should Focus on Netanyahu and His Ministers
Why does the author propose this
While the impact of the sanctions the law stipulates may be very limited, the United States is essentially acknowledging a very inconvenient truth: A combat unit in the Israeli army is acting like a militia.That means that some of its operations in the West Bank are rogue, outside the boundaries of the law. That means the unit either doesn't carry out orders, disobeys the chain of command, or has a parallel chain of political command made of rabbis – whether ultra-Orthodox or religious-Zionist – in Israeli settlements. Any other interpretation is putting lipstick on a pig.
Second, the United States is drawing a clear contrast between Israel and the West Bank. This shouldn't be taken lightly or dismissed as an ad hoc technicality. It's noteworthy that the U.S. announcement, expected to be made official in the next few days, coincided, however unscripted, with the House of Representatives authorizing the Biden administration's request to provide Israel with $14.5 billion to $16.5 billion in weapons systems and munitions ($26 billion for the entire package over time).
This comes on top of [in addition to] the annual $3.8 billion grant and has no strings attached.
The Netzah Yehuda Battalion, or the 97th Battalion of the Kfir infantry brigade, has been under U.S. vetting for half a decade and more closely since 2022. This raises the main question: Even if the allegations prove to be accurate and the sanctions are justified, isn't this a convenient cop-out?
Three ranks above the battalion there is a major general, the head of Central Command. Above him there is the IDF chief of staff, a lieutenant general. Above him there is a civilian official, the defense minister, and above him the prime minister.
To Clarify;
WHAT IS THE LEAHY LAW? Link to the AP
Former Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy championed legislation that became the Leahy law in the 1990s, saying the U.S. needed a tool to block American military aid and training to foreign security units guilty of extrajudicial killings, rapes, torture and other flagrant human rights abuses.
One of the first targets of the 1997 law was typical of the kind of renegade units that Congress had in mind: a Colombian army unit accused of knowingly killing thousands of civilians in part to get bonuses that were then being offered for killing militants.
Alon Pinkas of Haaretz concludes [it's a fairly long article]
Sanctioning a battalion, with little practical implications, isn't a policy. It's an application of U.S. law. But it's also a harsh warning, because what the United States does the EU quickly emulates. When Defense Minister Yoav Gallant remarked that "a hit on a battalion is a hit on the entire Israeli defense establishment," he may not have realized that it's exactly that.
*All bolding mine
If anyone has a paywall free copy please let me know in the comments [I think I covered the jist of the piece.]
Why do I think this is important?
UN rights chief ‘horrified’ by reports of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals Link to the Guardian
The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, has said he was “horrified” by reports of mass graves containing hundreds of bodies at two of Gaza’s largest hospitals.
Palestinian civil defence teams began exhuming bodies from a mass grave outside the Nasser hospital complex in Khan Younis last week after Israeli troops withdrew. A total of 310 bodies have been found in the last week, including 35 in the past day, Palestinian officials have said.
“We feel the need to raise the alarm because clearly there have been multiple bodies discovered,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights.
She described bodies “buried deep in the ground and covered with waste”, adding that “among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded”, including some bound and stripped of their clothes.
The discovery of mass graves has often [in conflicts] indicated that heinous crimes have been committed.
I do hope the IDF has kept impeccable documentation both video and documents all time-stamped and easily verifiable.
When have they ever bothered?
Just a thought