A special State Department panel recommended months ago that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses.
But Blinken has failed to act on the proposal in the face of growing international criticism of the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza, according to current and former State Department officials.
The incidents under review mostly took place in the West Bank and occurred before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. They include reports of extrajudicial killings by the Israeli Border Police; an incident in which a battalion gagged, handcuffed and left an elderly Palestinian American man for dead; and an allegation that interrogators tortured and raped a teenager who had been accused of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.
Recommendations for action against Israeli units were sent to Blinken in December, according to one person familiar with the memo. “They’ve been sitting in his briefcase since then,” another official said.
As someone who really wanted to believe in the myth of international human rights that the US claims to support, it is quite painful to watch.
I see a lot of people saying we should just go mask off and admit it’s all about geopolitics but is that really better? I’d rather see leaders try to live up to their lofty rhetoric than to abandon it.
But they won’t live up to their rhetoric because geopolitics is “too important.” So all we will ever do is get lies which further erodes public support of, and faith in, our government.
A painful truth is more honorable than a lofty lie. They should treat us like adults.