U.S. President Joe Biden, center left, pauses during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center right, in Tel Aviv, Israel. File.
| Photo Credit: AP
In separate strongly-worded posts on X (formerly Twitter), the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Cabinet Ministers have described any potential U.S. decision to impose sanctions on a unit of the Israel Defense Forces as the “height of absurdity”.
American media late on April 20 reported the U.S. State Department may announce sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda battalion of the Israel Defence Forces in the coming days, based on allegations of human rights violations in the West Bank.
Mr. Netanyahu, in his statement in Hebrew, said that he has held conversations with senior American government officials, “against the imposition of sanctions on Israeli citizens.”
“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.” Mr. Netanyahu added that his government will “act by all means against these moves.”
Ben Gvir, an ultra-orthodox right-wing politician who is Israel’s Minister of National Security, also took to X to state that any such move would be akin to crossing a red line. he also called on the Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to lend his support to the Netzah Yehuda battallion.
Israel’s Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich went a step further and called potential sanctions as “part of a planned move to force the State of Israel to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state and abandon Israel’s security.”
The reactions from the Israeli leadership follow the U.S. House of Representatives approved billions of dollars of additional military aid to its close ally as it continues its offensive in the territory of occupied Gaza. The U.S. State Department has not yet made any indications that it any plans to impose sanctions are in the works.
