Following the report Netzah Yehuda graduates against President Biden: “Let him not interfere”

The stormy reactions after the report last night (Saturday) that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the Netzah Yehuda Battalion in the coming days continue. Opposition leader Yair Lapid commented on the report: “The American sanctions are a mistake and we must act to cancel them.” Minister Gadi Eisenkot: “The idea is fundamentally wrong, we will work together to prevent the decision.” At the same time, the graduates of the battalion got together and started a group during the night, calling on the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff to “react immediately”. According to the report of the journalist Barak Ravid on the Axios website, the decision comes against the background of alleged human rights violations of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.

If the decision is implemented, the US will prohibit the transfer of American military aid to the battalion, and will prevent its soldiers and officers from taking part in training with the US Army. The sanctions that may be imposed on the battalion are under the Leahy Act, a series of regulations that prohibit the US Department of State and Defense Department from providing military aid to units that violate human rights. Lapid attacked: “The source of the problem is not at the military level, but at the political level. The world understands and knows that Minister Ben Gabir does not want the police to enforce the law in IOS and Minister Smotrich is not opposed to Jewish terrorism and extreme settler riots.”

Eisenkot commented and also came out against the decision: “We will work together to prevent the decision, because if there are complaints, they should be addressed to the political and military leadership and not to commanders at the tactical level.” Member of Knesset Merav Michaeli agreed that the imposition of sanctions on the battalion is a “severe and worrisome step”, but emphasized her support for disbanding the unit: “Their violent behavior has been known for years, this is a battalion of ‘hill boys’ and those who see religion as an excuse to attack Arabs.”

Sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda Battalion are a serious, difficult and extremely worrying step. The response to them should be the dropping of a token, an acknowledgment of reality and an understanding that Israel’s conduct in the Territories will not be able to continue.

The violent and corrupt conduct of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion and its surroundings has been known for years, and nothing has been done to stop it. Already two years ago, the USA established…

— Merav Michaeli (@MeravMichaeli) April 21, 2024

If this happens, it will be the first time that the US administration imposes sanctions on an Israeli military unit. Eitan Birnbaum, spokesman for the group of Netzah Yehuda fighters, replying, “I am also Netzah Yehuda”, who signed the demand for a response from Gallant and Levi told N12: “There is no difference between soldiers in the IDF, we are proud of our battalion and our service and see it as a significant and important battalion. We see in what Biden is trying to do a great injustice, the main one is that Biden is interfering with us in the IDF. This is a matter of principle in relation to the IDF.”

Shlomo Zalman Reichman, a fighter in the Netzah Yehuda reserve battalion, commented on the publication: “The IDF is a big boy and he knows how to get along with or without Biden. I was also with the battalion in reserve in Tulkarm and Jenin and now we are with the regular battalion in Gaza, I can tell you that many of the successes in this war are thanks to this battalion that works very hard. That Biden will stop interfering in what is happening in the State of Israel. In addition, Israeli society is in a contradiction – on the one hand, they want to recruit the ultra-Orthodox, and when they recruit them, this is what happens. If you want to recruit ultra-Orthodox to the army, this includes a whole basket of values, and it requires accepting their world of values.”

Nadav Miranda, a reserve fighter in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, said: “Biden got confused and made a terrible mistake. He should not interfere in what is happening in the Israel Defense Forces. We are the most moral army in the world, and the Netzah Yehuda Battalion is one of the best battalions in the IDF. The evidence for this is not long ago We were declared a maneuvering battalion in Gaza. The only message I can convey is that we will continue to fight for our country because we have nowhere else to go. No matter how many sanctions are imposed on us, we will continue to serve our country and give our all for it.”

Sanctions must not be imposed on the Israel Defense Forces!
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In recent weeks, I have been working against the imposition of sanctions on Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior American government officials.

At a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror, the intention to impose a sanction on a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low.

The government headed by me will act by all means…

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) April 20, 2024

Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the intention of the American administration and wrote in a tweet in Hebrew that “it is forbidden to impose sanctions on the Israel Defense Forces”. According to him, “At a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror, the intention to impose a sanction on a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low. The government headed by me will act by all means against these moves.”

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