State Department still determining if Netzah Yehuda unit remediated after human rights violations

The State Department continues to be in conversation with the Israeli government regarding the Netzah Yehuda unit and its human rights violations, spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Monday. 

Patel rejected that the State Department is not acting out of concern for Palestinian civilians impacted by the unit. 

US weapons sales to the units will not be affected, Patel said. He declined to offer specifics on what violations of human rights were committed, which units were involved or what remediation steps were taken.

"This is a deliberate process. It is a detail oriented process and it is a rigorous process," Patel said. 

The remediation standard is consistent and the same for all countries, Patel said, forcefully rejecting questions that Israel is being offered unique treatment.

Consistent application of the law

"There is no such thing as special treatment or double standards here," Patel said. "The standards of the Leahy Law are applied consistently to all countries."

"After a careful process, we found five Israeli units responsible for individual incidents of gross violations of human rights. All of these were incidents much before October 7th and none took place in Gaza," Patel said.

"Four of these units have effectively remediated these violations, which is what we expect partners to do... For a remaining unit, we continue to be in consultations and engagements with the government of Israel."

Patel said the Department has seen the remediation of four of five IDF units found to be in gross violation of human rights. 

According to Patel, the Department is working to determine if Netzah Yehuda has effectively remediated. 

The Israeli government has submitted additional information which the Department is reviewing, Patel said.

These five units, including Netzah Yehuda, are permitted to receive US security assistance. 

The specifics of the violations are not available to the public.