Ariel Kahana
Israel Hayom, Feb. 3, 2024
“A spokesperson from the US Embassy in Israel said the “Leahy vetting” was an effective foreign policy tool, which promotes respect for human rights by America’s security partners, and the accountability of security force units credibly implicated in gross violations of human rights.”
The Biden administration has been pressing Israel to provide answers regarding a series of incidents in which, it claims, IDF units operating in Judea and Samaria violated the so-called “Leahy Law”, a set of legal amendments that restrict the funding of military aid to units over human rights concerns, Israel Hayom has exclusively learned.
The Leahy Law states that Pentagon-appropriated funds “may not be used for any training, equipment, or other assistance for a foreign security force unit if the Secretary of Defense has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.”
The warning implies that should Israel fail to provide satisfactory answers, IDF forces serving in the West Bank will not get US-funded munitions.
According to information obtained by Israel Hayom, the warning was conveyed to Israel over a month ago and is known to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. [To read the full article, click here]