US set to sanction ultra-Orthodox battalion over West Bank violence

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the Israel Defence Forces "Netzah Yehuda" battalion for human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.

If the move goes ahead, it will be the first time the US imposes sanctions on an Israeli military unit.

The sanctions will ban the battalion and its members from receiving any kind of US military assistance or training. They are expected within days, according to sources cited by the Axios news site.

A 1997 law authored by then-Senator Patrick Leahy prohibits US foreign aid and defence department training programs from going to foreign security, military and police units credibly alleged to have committed human rights violations.

US lawmakers critical of Israel's conduct have frequently cited the Leahy Law as grounds for reevaluating unconditional US assistance for Israel – particularly in recent months as Gaza's humanitarian crisis has worsened.

Netzah Yehuda, which is comprised of some of the few ultra-Orthodox Israelis to serve in the IDF, has been at the centre of several controversies connected to right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians, notably the 2022 death of Omar As’ad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American who died after being detained, handcuffed, blindfolded, and later abandoned in near-freezing conditions by soldiers of the battalion.

Israel moved the unit out of the West Bank in December 2022 — though it denied it did so due to soldiers’ behaviour — and it has since served mostly in the country’s north. It has also been deployed to the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war against Hamas.