Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted by the International Criminal Court on November 21 for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The U.S. is not a member of this court, and I don’t think it should be because it would not allow jury trials for some crimes committed by U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.
But the U.S. played a central role in the establishment of the court, and the fact that we are not a member certainly does not make the indictment less true.
The indictment charges Netanyahu and his defense minister with “intentionally limiting or preventing medical supplies and medicine from getting into Gaza, in particular anesthetics” and “doctors were forced to operate on wounded persons and carry out amputations, including on children, without anesthetics … causing extreme pain and suffering.”
It said the two were guilty of the crime against humanity of murder by starvation due to “the lack of food, water, and fuel and specific medical supplies … which resulted in the death of civilians, including children, due to malnutrition and dehydration.”
On Nov. 20, the U.N. Security Council voted for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza with only the U.S. voting “no.” One “no” vote kills a resolution in this council.
Even allies like Britain and France voted yes, and the French ambassador said, “The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is disastrous and it continues to worsen day by day.”
Now, Netanyahu has expanded his war to Lebanon. One television newscast I saw reported that Hezbollah had fired a heavy rocket barrage at Israel on Nov. 24, fortunately killing no one, while the day before, Israel killed 29 Lebanese with U.S. bombs. The death toll in Lebanon is now approaching 4,000 and over 43,000 in Gaza.
Jeffrey Sachs, a Jew who was honored as being the top professor at Columbia and is a world-renowned foreign policy expert, has been one of Netanyahu’s harshest critics.
On a podcast on Nov. 21, he called Netanyahu “one of the most violent and dangerous people in the world.” He also described him as “the lead cheerleader for the Iraq War.”
On Judge Napolitano’s podcast that day, he said the Israel Lobby controls “the U.S. military, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Treasury, and the U.S. Congress.”
Sachs added: “Israel runs the whole show. It’s stark, it’s remarkable what a few hundred millions of campaign contributions can do.”
Dave Smith, a popular Jewish comedian and podcaster, has also been very critical of Netanyahu. He said when he grew up, the pro-Israel side “was the only side that was presented to me.”
Then, he said: “I think Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is horrific and inexcusable, and the fact that I am forced through my tax dollars to prop that up doesn’t sit very well with me.”
Smith added that he sees “what the wars over the last 20 years have done to this country” and that “to watch us flirt with another war in the Middle East is just insane to me.”
He also said he is “somewhat resentful to the way the pro-Israel side kind of wraps up Jewish identity with the government of Israel” and that he is “appalled by that.”
While probably still a minority, millions of Jews around the world are opposed to all this killing and starvation of little children. In a 2019 book, Sheldon Richman wrote about the “sheer cruelty … of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.”
He wrote: “As many American political and military leaders have acknowledged since 9/11, rather than being an asset, Israel has been a liability. A big reason for the Muslim terrorism directed at Americans is precisely the unconditional U.S. military assistance to, not to mention the diplomatic support of, Israel.”
Richman, also a Jew, said, “What goes a long way toward explaining the huge sums given to Israel each year – over $10 million a day – is the influential Israel Lobby, which brags about its power over U.S. politicians. The AIPAC and other organizations have created an environment in which criticism of Israel or Zionism is smeared as anti-Semitism, although this baseless association has finally begun to wear thin.”
William F. Buckley once said the so-called Neo-Cons are not conservative and George Will once wrote they are really “the most radical people in this city” (meaning Washington, D.C.).
Now, Netanyahu and his neo-con allies want the U.S. to support a war against Iran. They want the war in Ukraine to continue so Iran’s ally, Russia, will not be able to support it in a war against Israel.
We should not allow Israel-first neo-cons to lead us into a war against Iran. And, because we are over $35 trillion in debt, we cannot afford to keep spending mega-billions in any wars in the Middle East.
Reprinted with author’s permission from the Knoxville Focus.
