Failure to sanction violates U.S. laws prohibiting military assistance to abusive military units
(Washington, DC – April 19, 2024) -Secretary of State Antony Blinken should sanction Israeli security forces implicated in gross violations of human rights, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, torture, and rape, under the Leahy Law amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act, said DAWN today.
A recent ProPublica report documented that despite recommendations of the State Department's "Leahy Vetting Forum" to sanction Israeli military units, including one unit whose abuses DAWN documented, Secretary Blinken has acted alone in refusing to impose the legally required, non-discretionary sanctions.
"Secretary Blinken's foot-dragging has undermined U.S. law by refusing to withhold funding to Israeli units known to have committed heinous abuses," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN, "It's outrageous to think about how many more abuses these units have committed with U.S. funds and support simply because Secretary Blinken didn't find it politically expedient to sanction them in a timely manner."
The "Leahy Law" refers to two statutory provisions prohibiting the U.S. from funding a unit of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating the unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights. One statutory provision, Section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, 22 U.S.C. 2378(d), applies to the State Department, and the other is included in the Defense Appropriations Act, Title 10 U.S. Code, Sect. 362, and applies to the Defense Department. Under this law, vetting military units and withholding aid from abusive ones are not discretionary and may not be waived; they are mandatory upon credible evidence of such abuses. The State Department Leahy law includes 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. To date, no Israeli military unit has been sanctioned under this law, a unique exemption when compared to global practices where the State and Defense Departments suspend U.S. aid to over one thousand units every year.
"The Leahy Law is not a bureaucratic checkbox but a fundamental component of U.S. foreign policy aimed at promoting human rights," said Josh Paul, a Non-Resident Fellow at DAWN. "Secretary Blinken must act decisively to apply U.S. law to all recipients of U.S. security assistance, including Israel. No one is above the law."
DAWN previously submitted the findings of its investigations into two abusive Israeli units – the Netzah Yehuda Battalion and YAMAM, Israel's national counter-terrorism unit – and urged the State Department to impose sanctions on them in light of the credible evidence of gross violations of human rights, including the extrajudicial killings documented in the submissions. DAWN documented extensive evidence of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion's role in extrajudicial killing, torture, and physical abuse, including in the killing of Palestinian American citizen Omar Assad, and the failure of the Israeli military to hold them accountable. DAWN also documented the YAMAM unit's role in two extrajudicial killings and two indiscriminate and reckless killings, including of a child in Jenin in March 2023.
While the State Department did not directly reply to these submissions, the ProPublica report reveals that the State Department's Leahy Vetting Forum recommended sanctions against three units, including the Netzah Yehuda Battalion whose abuses DAWN documented.
"The State Department's long history of shielding Israeli units from the Leahy Laws has undermined the integrity of U.S. foreign policy and its commitment to human rights," said Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, DAWN's Director of Research for Israel-Palestine. "The Leahy Law vetting process, when it works, must ensure that U.S. military aid is not gifted to military units with a record of committing egregious human rights abuses like these."
In light of the exceptional procedural barriers that the State Department has created to uniquely exempt Israeli units from sanctions, DAWN is launching the "Leahy Law Accountability Project" this month. The project is a comprehensive effort to ensure that the U.S. government adheres to its own laws and stated values in its military assistance to Israel. It will rely on advocacy, public engagement, and strategic litigation to challenge the State Department's failures in enforcing the Leahy Law with respect to Israel. By mobilizing congressional support, raising public awareness, and pursuing legal action, the project aims to hold the U.S. government accountable for its failure to properly implement this critical human rights law.
