The Biden administration is planning to announce sanctions against a part of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). On the one hand, this would be the latest in a series of US and European sanctions targeting Israeli settler organisations linked to violence against Palestinians. On the other, it’s an unprecedented legal action by the United States against the Israeli military itself.
One of the long-running divisions in Israel society is between Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews and the rest of the public. Originally a tiny minority, Haredi Jews now form nearly 14 per cent of Israel’s population. The biggest tension is over the issue of military service: while most Jewish men are drafted into the IDF at 18 by law, Haredi men are exempt. Courts have repeatedly ruled that the exemption is discriminatory, and Israeli governments have tried to show judges and the wider public that they’re working on increasing Haredi draft numbers through non-coercive means.
To most Israelis, sanctioning any part of the IDF during Israel’s worst war in decades is a wedge too far
The Netzah Yehuda battalion was created for this purpose.
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