Ensuring Compliance with U.S. Law Pertaining to Assistance to Israeli Security Forces.
The Leahy Law prohibits U.S. assistance to foreign security force units credibly implicated in gross human rights violations. Our project challenges the continued provision of U.S. assistance to Israeli units implicated in gross violations of human rights, seeking proper enforcement of this crucial legislation.
We are working to ensure U.S. compliance with the Leahy Law regarding assistance to Israeli units that have committed gross violations of human rights through strategic litigation, advocacy, and public engagement. The U.S. provides nearly $4 billion annually in assistance to Israeli security forces, and has provided even more since October 7, 2023, yet has never withheld aid from any Israeli unit despite documented human rights violations, including violations set forth in the State Department's own Human Rights Reports.
This project, defined by our landmark Administrative Procedure Act (APA) lawsuit filed on December 17, 2024, argues that were the Biden Administration's State Department to follow normal vetting procedures for U.S. assistance to foreign security force units under the Foreign Assistance Act, many, if not most, IDF units would be ineligible for assistance. To date, there has not been any litigation effort with a similar legal theory under the Administrative Procedure Act to compel the State Department to simply obey American law.
