'An Israeli-style Wagner Group': The ultra-Orthodox military unit in Washington’s crosshairs

Sébastian SEIBT

23 April 2024 at 9:07 am·1-min read

For the first time, the United States is expected to impose sanctions on an Israeli military unit. The Netzah Yehuda Battalion, initially set up to accommodate Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews but which quickly expanded to become a popular unit for radical right-wing settlers, has over the years been accused of a series of human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The first word of the prospective sanctions emerged over the weekend when several Israeli and American news outlets reported that the Biden administration was gearing up to sanction Netzah Yehuda. Citing three unnamed US sources “with knowledge of the issue”, news website Axios said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to announce the unprecedented move against the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) “within days”. The sanctions relate to human rights abuses committed by the unit in the West Bank prior to Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, it said.

‘A unit every army should be ashamed of’

He noted, however, that even though the Netzah Yehuda is an integral part of the IDF, it is “a unit every army should be ashamed of”.

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‘A unit every army should be ashamed of’

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