According to International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan, war crimes were committed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as early as October 8. The two are listed along with the likes of Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Deif, all architects of the most heinous and despicable crimes against human beings since the dark days of the Holocaust.
This essentially means that if Netanyahu or Gallant travel abroad, they could run the risk of being issued with an arrest warrant in order to be tried in the ICC. Even if they remain in Israel, however, Khan has succeeded in equating them with cold-blooded murderers who planned the savage attacks that defy any sense of humanity or dignity, toward a genocidal goal.
If this isn’t the height of uneven weights and balances, what is?
To this, the prime minister responded, “It’s like creating a moral equivalence after September 11 between former US president George W. Bush and slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, or during World War II between former US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and former German chancellor Adolf Hitler.”
Here begins the absurdity.
WHEN ASKED by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour what the charges were, in relation to Sinwar, Haniyeh, and Deif, Khan replied, “Extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention.”
Even though Khan went on to say that the world was shocked at what had occurred on October 7, referring to the immense suffering that took place in Israel, by his calculations, it is apparent that any retaliatory measures taken on behalf of Israel have now been deemed to be on a par with the horrors committed by Hamas terrorists.
With some hesitation in getting the words out, Khan stated that Netanyahu and Gallant are, likewise, being charged with “Causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies and the deliberate targeting of civilians,” a highly distorted representation of what occurs when a sovereign country responds to barbarians who perpetrated a brutal massacre against innocent citizens.
Relying upon pictures of starving children, Khan offers these up as solid evidence, despite the endless truckloads of food and supplies brought into Gaza, by Israel, for months on end, to the point of saturation. He also refers to forensic evidence corroborates the charges of starvation but fails to state who collected that evidence and whether it was confirmed by neutral parties who lack an agenda.
Trying desperately to appear merciful and even-handed, Khan states that Israel is not being charged with genocide, at this time, but reminds Amanpour that there is still an active investigation, so those accusations could still be forthcoming if deemed relevant by him.
Ironically, he acknowledges that “genocide” has an element of “intent” to destroy a group – in other words, a pre-meditated, planned, and coordinated act.
But it’s kind of hard to accuse Israel of such an intent when over 20,000 work permits had been issued to Gazans, prior to October 7, facilitating their ability to earn a living in our country, as opposed to planned aspirations of genocide which would not be consistent with allowing them to be gainfully employed in order to live successful lives.
But, of all the outrageous claims, which were made by Karim Khan, perhaps, the most egregious was that war crimes were committed as early as October 8.
This is odd, because following the October 7 massacre, the current US administration had, on October 12, sent its top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to express his sincere, most heartfelt sympathies. Referring to the event as “both a human and Jewish tragedy,” disgusted by the horrifying photos he had viewed, calling them “images that will be seared in his brain forever,” Blinken assured everyone in Israel that he was “hurting and grieving” along with all of us.
Not once did he castigate Israel in any way or accuse the country of having committed war crimes just a day after the fated massacre. Nor did he point to any actions as being those which were equal to or even approaching the level of what had been done by the Hamas terrorists who had spent the last two years meticulously planning every element of how they would invade our country in the early morning hours of Shabbat and raid kibbutz communities, resulting in the torture, murder, rape, and kidnapping of innocent civilian families.
Blinken, upon each of his subsequent visits, where the tone changed considerably each time, becoming less friendly and less sympathetic, still did not accuse Israel of war crimes, nor did any other country, short of South Africa which, with its unmistakably warm ties to Iran became a useful vessel in trying to harm Israel’s ability to defend itself.
SO, ONE has to question why it took some seven months for the international courts to publicly state that Israel’s prime minister and defense minister were retroactively guilty of crimes against humanity and dating these to as early as the day after the brutal massacre that shocked the world’s collective conscience.
Could it be because Israel is about to finish off the last safe haven of Hamas terrorists who have been hiding out in Rafah, this one particular area, determined to be a forbidden territory for Israel’s military to enter?
We have repeatedly been told by the Biden administration, along with other countries and world leaders, as well as by pro-Palestinian demonstrators not to even think about making a move into that part of Gaza, all under the guise of protecting its citizens who, coincidentally, are embedded with the same Hamas terrorists who executed unspeakable crimes against humanity but are, nonetheless, being protected and granted immunity by way of being indistinguishable from ordinary people.
Terrorism pays when it can be camouflaged and ultimately excused with the sudden “sanctity of life” claim.
But what about the sanctity of Israeli lives? Is a sovereign country no longer permitted to react to being savagely attacked for fear of its leaders being reduced to war criminals? If so, then we have lost the basic right of self-defense. And if this has become the new standard in war, how is evil ever to be defeated?
The ICC has clearly crossed a line of no return when as an official body, purporting its commitment to justice and truth in matters of war and peace, it is able to view demonic terrorists through the same lens as it views a prime minister and defense minister of a democratic and free nation that has sought to help its neighbors during times of tragedy and great hardship.
While the stark differences should be evident and distinguishable, they are about as obscure as the truth – which is no longer of any importance to those committed to the evil which has replaced all other standards.
The writer is a former Jerusalem elementary and middle school principal. She is also the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, available on Amazon, based on the time-tested wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs.