NGO with Soros, Muslim Brotherhood Ties Pushed Biden IDF Sanctions

As Breitbart News reported, citing Axios’ Barak Ravid, the Biden administration is set to announce sanctions on Netzach Yehudah (“Judea Forever”), a unit that includes ultra-Orthodox soldiers, who are exempt from the draft.

The sanctions relate to allegations from well before the war that began with the Hamas terror attack on October 7. Netzach Yehudah had since been relocated from the West Bank to the Golan Heights — and is now fighting in Gaza.

Israeli political leaders from across the spectrum, almost without exception, condemned the news of the sanctions, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling them a new “moral low.” And as one U.S. analyst pointed out, the sanctions could expose U.S. soldiers to similar sanctions by other nations.

The IDF also responded on Sunday, reporting that Netzach Yehudah is active in Gaza, and defending both the unit and the integrity of the IDF as a whole. In a statement, the IDF said:

The IDF Netzach Yehuda Battalion soldiers are currently participating in the war effort in the Gaza Strip. The battalion is professionally and bravely conducting operations in accordance to the IDF Code of Ethics and with full commitment to international law. In recent years, the battalion’s soldiers have been at the heart of operational duties working around the clock in order to protect Israeli civilians, while being a leading battalion with regards to recruitment of ultra-Orthodox citizens to the IDF.

The reports regarding sanctions against the Netzach Yehuda Battalion are not currently known to the IDF. Should such a decision be made on the matter, its consequences will be reviewed. The IDF remains committed to continue to examine exceptional incidents professionally and according to law.

Now, NGO Monitor, a pro-Israel non-profit that monitors non-governmental organizations that are active in the Arab-Israeli conflict, says that the sanctions are likely driven by DAWN, a group it says has Muslim Brotherhood ties.

DAWN has also received funding from the Open Society Foundations, the philanthropy used by left-wing financier and Democratic Party mega-donor George Soros to support a variety of radical causes, including anti-Israel groups.

NGO Monitor previously reported that DAWN (Democracy for the Arab World Now) was founded by the late Jamal Khashoggi — who was murdered by Saudi Arabia in 2018 — and has board members with Muslim Brotherhood ties.

In a thread posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, NGO Monitor said that the imminent U.S. sanctions against Netzach Yehudah are “the result of a coordinated campaign by DAWN and other extreme political NGOs.”

The reported sanctions against the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion by the @StateDept is the result of a coordinated campaign by DAWN and other extreme political NGOs. DAWN has an extensive list of targets and won’t stop after an IDF unit or few individuals. > https://t.co/JFBwm4wFkn pic.twitter.com/nF2OaSoFv8

— NGO Monitor (@NGOmonitor) April 21, 2024

DAWN is a US-based tax-exempt organization that has intensified its legal attacks against Israeli officials since October 7. DAWN has officials connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as to the most notorious antisemitic and anti-Israel groups.https://t.co/7B0f3YcM5C

— NGO Monitor (@NGOmonitor) April 21, 2024

Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said Saturday that Congress should subpoena all State Department communications relevant to the sanctions so that the public could see the evidence that led to the sanctions, as well as which organizations are informing the State Department’s policies.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.