“ The law in question has been on the books for more than a decade. It prohibits the United States from assisting any unit of a foreign security force that commits “gross violations” of human rights. Aid can be reinstated if the foreign country adequately punishes the perpetrators. Passed by Congress in 1997, it bears the name of former Senator Patrick Leahy — and it has been applied hundreds of times — including reportedly against U.S. allies like Colombia and Mexico.
But it has never been applied to Israel, the country that over the past eight decades has received more U.S. aid, by far, than any other. That’s not because the Israel Defense Forces don’t commit serious abuses. “There are literally dozens of Israeli security force units that have committed gross violations of human rights” and should thus be ineligible for U.S. aid, a former State Department official, Charles Blaha, told ProPublica in May.
Mr. Blaha should know. From 2016 to 2023, he oversaw the office charged with enforcing the Leahy law. While a U.S. State Department spokesman in April claimed that Israel receives “no special treatment” under the Leahy law, Mr. Blaha says his own experience proved otherwise. When it came to every country except Israel, he has explained, career officials generally had the last word. In the case of Israel alone, he says, the decision rested with the State Department’s top political appointees.
Some might argue that Israel can’t adhere to U.S. human rights laws and still fight its enemies. But if that’s the case, why does the United States apply the Leahy law to Ukraine, which is resisting a great-power invasion? For several years, the United States prohibited assistance to a battalion of Ukraine’s National Guard; the ban was lifted only this past June.“
http://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/18/opinion/biden-israel-policy-harris.html
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