US said scrutinizing IDF ultra-Orthodox unit with reputation of rights abuses
Report says in wake of recent alleged incidents, State Department has asked embassy to prepare a document on Netzah Yehuda battalion
The US State Department is assessing the IDF’s ultra-orthodox Netzah Yehuda infantry battalion due to concerns over inappropriate behavior by unit members toward Palestinians in the West Bank, Haaretz reported on Tuesday.
The US Embassy in Israel has been asked to prepare a file on the matter, according to the unsourced report.
The report said embassy staff have interviewed Israeli and Palestinian civilians on the subject. In addition, they have gathered Israeli media publications and reports by human rights groups about incidents involving the battalion.
The report said the US administration may seek answers from Israel regarding the unit’s repeated alleged transgressions.
The US embassy declined to comment on the report.
According to Haaretz, US attention was drawn to Netzah Yehuda earlier this year after an elderly Palestinian American arrested by unit soldiers was found dead. Soldiers had gagged Omar As’ad, 78, bound his hands with zip ties, and moved him to a courtyard of an abandoned building in the near-freezing January night, but left him there without checking on his condition.
Several Netzah Yehuda officers were removed from their positions in the wake of the incident. Military police recently concluded a probe of the matter and military prosecutors are to decide what further action to take.
A battalion within the Kfir Infantry Brigade, Netzah Yehuda was created at the end of the 1990s so that ultra-Orthodox and other religious soldiers can serve without feeling they are compromising their beliefs.
Soldiers in the battalion, which operates in the West Bank, have been at the center of several controversies connected to right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians.
Battalion members have been convicted in the past of torturing and abusing Palestinian prisoners.
In August, after four members of Netzah Yehuda were filmed beating a detained Palestinian, Israel’s Diaspora Minister Nachman Shay called for the unit to be shut down.
Some Israeli analysts and journalists also questioned whether it was time to close the battalion down after the death of As’ad, the elderly Palestinian.
