From the Liveblog of
Saturday, February 3, 2024
Report: Israel responding to charges that US weapons were used in West Bank rights violations
The Biden administration is reportedly demanding that Israel provide explanations regarding a series of allegations that IDF troops used American-provided weapons to carry out human rights violations in the West Bank.
US legislation known as the Leahy Law prevents the US from providing aid to foreign militaries that violate human rights with impunity. The Biden administration has come under increased pressure from progressives to more stringently apply the legislation to Israel, particularly regarding its operations in the West Bank.
After receiving the US request over a month ago for clarification on a series of incidents, Israel has less than two months to provide responses to Washington, the Israel Hayom daily reports.
If the explanations are not found satisfactory, Israel would be at risk of losing US funding for weapons and military supplies used in the West Bank.
Such a decision would be highly unusual and Biden would likely face immense pressure from Israel supporters in both parties not to take such a drastic step.
The IDF’s International Law Department is spearheading efforts to respond to the US requests, Israel Hayom says.
Asked for comment on the report, the Foreign Ministry says that Israel has long cooperated with US requests regarding the Leahy Law, declining to elaborate. A political source tells Israel Hayom that they are not aware of any concrete warning from the Biden administration regarding continued funding for weapons used by the IDF in the West Bank.
The US Embassy in Jerusalem also declined to comment on the specifics mentioned in the Israel Hayom report, sufficing with a statement noting that the Leahy Law is applied to all countries that receive American security assistance in order to ensure that none of it is used to carry out human rights violations.
