Leahy: Legislation does not target Israeli military

The office of Sen. Patrick Leahy denied an Israeli newspaper report that the Vermont Democrat wants to cut off U.S. funds to several Israeli military units.

A spokesman for the senator told Politico that the Haaretz report “contains significant inaccuracies.”

Haaretz reported Monday that Leahy was lobbying for the U.S. to discontinue assistance to three elite IDF units in response to alleged human rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza.

A Leahy spokesman disputed Haaretz’s characterization of the senator’s efforts.

“He has not proposed legislation to withhold U.S. aid to units of the Israel Defense Forces,” David Carle, a Leahy spokesman, wrote in an e-mail to Politico.

Rather, Carle wrote, the Leahy Amendment “applies to U.S. aid to foreign security forces around the globe and is intended to be applied consistently across the spectrum of U.S. military aid abroad.” He said that the State Departmen.

So-called Leahy Amendments are annual amendments added to foreign appropriations legislation that cut off funding of foreign military units suspected of committing human rights violations.

Carle said that the State Department is “responsible for evaluations and enforcement decisions and over the years Senator Leahy has pressed for faithful and consistent application of the law.”

Haaretz had reported that Leahy was pressing for a clause restricing allocations to these three units to be inserted into foreign appropriations legislation and that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak had met with the senator several weeks ago in Washington in a bid to persuade him to drop his effort. Leahy’s spokesman wrote in his e-mail that the senator does not discuss his private conversations with Israeli leaders.