Targeting Netzach Yehuda is a grave injustice - opinion

I came back from Vietnam on a stretcher, wounded from battle, wondering why.

I found the answer in Concord, Massachusetts, on that rude bridge that arched the flood, stood shoulder to shoulder with my fellow soldiers, and heard that shot fired around the world. 

It’s our blood that stains those stripes in our flag red, and our ideals stand undiminished: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Warriors who fight for common ideals in the country

It is those ideals that I discovered many years later in the fledgling Netzach Yehuda, the only battalion of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) soldiers in the IDF. They are warriors who fight for our common ideals and the values of the Bible that inspired the founding fathers of our great country.

Media reports indicate that the US government is contemplating imposing sanctions on Netzach Yehuda. Targeting Netzach Yehuda is a deep injustice. 

Since its inception 25 years ago as the only haredi battalion, and until two years ago, Netzach Yehuda has operated predominantly in the West Bank, including five years of continuous operation between 2017 and 2022. 

This is unique for any IDF combat battalion, which is usually transferred from one sector to another every few months.

Over the years, the battalion has received numerous accolades, including several excellence awards, for its significant contributions to Israel’s security.

Hailing from haredi society, many of the battalion’s soldiers joined the IDF at significant personal cost, and, by all accounts, they form a highly motivated and high-achieving unit.

Unfortunately, as can be expected, there have also been several incidents over 25 years of service, but all were dealt with by the army prosecution, with soldiers imprisoned and punished. In recent years, Netzach Yehudah has served with distinction, earning accolades for its courage and professionalism.

Of course, these incidents are truly regrettable, and every effort has been made to minimize them. They are an inevitable by-product of combat situations in which soldiers are under constant attack by both civilian and paramilitary forces. 

They occur in many units in all armies around the world. As someone who served in the US military, I saw mistakes made. The morality of the military is not determined by the mistakes it has made but by whether it rectifies them and ensures they do not occur again. That is exactly what happened with Netzach Yehudah.

The voices rising against Netzach Yehuda come from anti-Israel NGOs. These NGOs, such as Dawn, have a long agenda of anti-Israel rhetoric. Their murky funding sources point to Arab countries.

If they succeed in delegitimizing Netzach Yehuda, these groups, which have a history of hostility toward Israel, will then set their sights on other IDF units. Netzach Yehuda, the only haredi battalion in the IDF, is the soft target. In Israel, some extreme leftist groups oppose the unit because it does not integrate men and women. 

They resent a religious unit, filled with soldiers who adhere to Jewish tradition.

The US government has never contacted the commanders or soldiers in Netzach Yehuda to evaluate their current policies. They have not visited the bases to see firsthand the high level of ethical standards that they follow. 

Instead, they are passing judgment based on the assertions of radical anti-Israel groups. I urge US officials to visit the unit and see for themselves the remarkable courage and professionalism of this very special group of soldiers.

Israel and the US are close allies. The United States has never placed similar sanctions on the military divisions of any other ally. 

While US support of Israel stands strong, these sanctions will threaten to undermine the close cooperation between the two countries, and, during a period of wartime and geopolitical instability, they send a dangerous signal to Israel’s enemies while jeopardizing every IDF unit. 

The current targeting of Netzach Yehuda is only the tip of a large and looming iceberg.

The writer is US chairman of Friends of Nahal Haredi, Netzach Yehuda.