#Netzah Yahuda

[originalleftist]

The US is preparing to sanction an Israeli military unit, the Netzah Yahuda battalion, accused of committing war crimes.

The sanctions would apparently be under the Leahy Law, which as per the article "prevents US funding or training being used for foreign military units credibly implicated in gross human rights violations." Notably, the alleged violations, including the death of an 80 year old Palestinian-American, Omar Assad, are from before the current war.

The US also just sanctioned an "Israeli far-right activist" who they say "had "engaged in destabilizing violence affecting the West Bank."'

"Washington - Israel's main ally - has never suspended aid to an IDF unit before."

The government of Israel is, of course, protesting, and trying to get the Biden administration to reverse course. So we'll see how this unfolds in the coming days. I will say, though, that I both believe there must be accountability for how US arms and other aid are used, that the US must adhere to it's own laws, and that I generally prefer carefully targeted sanctions like these to sweeping economic sanctions against an entire country (such as those advocated by the BDS Movement against Israel), as such broad sanctions tend to hurt innocent people as much as or more than the guilty ones.