The US State Department has determined that five Israeli security units committed gross violations of human rights prior to the outbreak of the war with Hamas in Gaza, but is still deciding whether to restrict military assistance to one of the units under US law.
The other four “have effectively remediated these violations,” deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said Monday.
The US is still deciding whether to restrict assistance to the remaining unit – reported to be the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion.
“We continue to be in in in consultations and engagements with the Government of Israel. They have submitted additional information as it pertains to that unit, and we’re continuing to have those conversations,” Patel said.
“All of these were incidents much before October 7, and none took place in Gaza,” Patel noted.
According to a source familiar, the Israelis told the US in recent weeks about previously undisclosed actions they’ve taken and the US is reviewing those actions to see whether they are sufficient enough to hold off restricting aid.
Under the Leahy Law, the US cannot provide assistance to foreign security units that are credibly implicated in human rights abuses, but there is an exception “permitting resumption of assistance to a unit if the Secretary of State determines and reports to Congress that the government of the country is taking effective steps to bring the responsible members of the security forces unit to justice.”
In recent weeks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeatedly alluded to having made a determination under the law. He described the Leahy Law determination process as “a good example of a process that is very deliberate.”
“It seeks to get the facts, to get all the information – that has to be done carefully. And that’s exactly how we proceeded as we proceed with any country that is the recipient of military assistance from the United States,” he said last week.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
