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Israeli leaders are reacting angrily to reports that an Israeli army battalion could be sanctioned under US human rights legislation, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a decision on the move would be made “soon”.
The unit in question is the Netzah Yehuda battalion, established in 1999 to accommodate ultra Orthodox Jews – many of whom resist Israel’s compulsory military service.
Critics of US policy regarding its military support to Israel – normally almost $4 billion per year and now boosted by $26 billion this year – say sanctions on the unit of 1,000 men would mostly be symbolic.
Who are the Netzah Yehuda battalion?
The unit is well-known to rights groups, and was identified by the US State Department – which evaluates abuses by military units of allied countries – as having allegedly murdered civilians.
The unit made headlines in 2022 when its members were accused of killing a 78-year-old dual US-Palestinian citizen, but rights organisations have flagged alleged abuses by the soldiers long before then.
Omar Assad was found dead on an abandoned building site having been detained by the unit. A Palestinian autopsy later found he had suffered a stress-induced heart attack, after being handcuffed, gagged, threatened and manhandled by the troops.
Detractors of the unit point to its composition, with many recruits belonging to the so-called Hilltop Youth, an extremist settler organisation with a history of attacking Palestinian shepherds and establishing illegal settlements.
Attempting to placate the US, Israel withdrew Netzah Yehuda from the West Bank in 2022 and moved it to the Golan Heights.
Benny Gantz, a minister in the Israeli war cabinet, spoke to Mr Blinken on Sunday and requested that he “reconsider the prospective decision”.
The Israeli military said the Netzah Yehuda battalion is an active combat unit that operates according to the principles of international law. The US State Department clearly disputes this – at least for now – and could use existing legislation to halt support for the battalion.
What is the Leahy Amendment and will it be used against Israel?
The possible sanctioning of the unit is in line with US legislation introduced in 1997, known as the Leahy Law, named after human rights campaigner and Senator Patrick Leahy.
The law was enacted amid US military support for Columbia in its war against Marxist rebel group FARC, after several Colombian army and police units were accused by rights groups of severe human rights violations.
The US did not want to restrict arms supplies to its Columbian ally wholesale – as it did briefly to allies Pakistan and El Salvador in the 1960s and 1980s respectively – so the law emerged as a compromise to halt support to individual units. Since its passing, it’s been applied to security forces in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Mexico, but not Israel.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
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