Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that he would fight against sanctions being placed on any Israeli military units for suspected abuses of human rights, following media reports that suggested Washington was considering taking such action,
Although the Israeli military stated it was unaware of any such actions, the Axios news site on Saturday reported that Washington was going to put penalties on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda unit, which has operated in the occupied West Bank.
The United States’ growing dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s policies—his coalition government depends on settler parties—was evident on Friday when it issued a series of penalties related to Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) – I will fight it with all my strength,” Israeli PM said in a statement.
The centrist former head of Israel’s armed forces, Benny Gantz, the war cabinet minister, stated in a statement on Sunday that he had a conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and requested that he take the issue under reconsideration.
According to the State Department, Blinken discussed Israel’s security, attempts to prevent the crisis in Gaza from spreading, the necessity of an immediate ceasefire, and the expansion of humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilian population with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Sanctions were not mentioned in the US comments.
Gantz argued that imposing such penalties would be a mistake because it would undermine Israel’s legitimacy in a time of war and that it was not justifiable because Israel has a military that upholds international law and an autonomous legal system.
