Israel Knew Hamas Money Source Before October 7th 2023 And Did Not Stop The Flow Of Cash To Hamas

Yossi Cohen in 2019 in Tel Aviv. As chief of Mossad in 2016, he dismantled Harpoon.

 The Israeli authorities have now concluded that this influx of money not only helped Hamas prepare for the Oct. 7 attacks, but gave leaders confidence that they would have the money to rebuild afterward, according to five Israeli security officials.

Tamir Pardo, a former head of Mossad, in September in Herzliya, Israel. The Harpoon Task Force, he said, was “one of the most important tools the Mossad had.”

By 2016, Mr. Netanyahu’s government had begun pursuing a strategy to contain Hamas by allowing the Qataris to send money to Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu says that money was humanitarian aid. Privately, he told others that stabilizing Hamas would lessen pressure on him to negotiate toward a Palestinian state.

Mr. Levy left government that year. A new group of intelligence agents and specialists from a few other agencies kept chasing the money, only without the organizational structure and direct access to senior policymakers.

This new group soon made another alarming discovery.

Up until that point, members of the team told The Times, they had estimated that Hamas was taking about $10 million to $15 million annually from their companies’ profits.

Then they learned, based on sources and other intelligence, that Hamas had sold off some of the secret portfolio’s assets, raising more than $75 mill

Israel Knew Hamas’s Money Source Years Before Oct. 7 Attacks - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/16/world/europe/israel-hamas-money-finance-turkey-intelligence-attacks.html 

Hisham Qafisheh
Running to a reinforced concrete shelter in Ashkelon, Israel, moments after a rocket siren was sounded on Oct. 7.Credit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times

Mr. Levy, who ran Harpoon and its dedicated economic warfare unit, recalled the first time he heard about Hamas’s portfolio.

“One of the guys on my team, a Mossad guy, showed it to me,” Mr. Levy said. “What we understood then was that they had these companies to make a little bit of money and to use them as a legal platform to transfer money from place to place.”

Back then, the consensus among Israeli officials was that Iran was the bigger threat. It had nuclear ambitions and armed both Hamas and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. So the bulk of the task force’s attention remained focused there.

Still, Mr. Levy said the discovery was enough of a “red flag” that he told Mr. Netanyahu about it.

Agents worried as millions poured in. Hamas bought weapons and plotted an attack. The authorities now say the money helped lay the groundwork for the Oct. 7 assault on Israel.

By Jo Becker and Justin Scheck

Jo Becker reported from Tel Aviv, and Justin Scheck from Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey. Dec. 28, 2023

Israeli security officials scored a major intelligence coup in 2018: secret documents that laid out, in intricate detail, what amounted to a private equity fund that Hamas used to finance its operations.

The ledgers, pilfered from the computer of a senior Hamas official, listed assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Hamas controlled mining, chicken farming and road building companies in Sudan, twin skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates, a property developer in Algeria, and a real estate firm listed on the Turkish stock exchange.

The documents, which The New York Times reviewed, were a potential road map for choking off Hamas’s money and thwarting its plans. The agents who obtained the records shared them inside their own government and in Washington.

Nothing happened.

For years, none of the companies named in the ledgers faced sanctions from the United States or Israel. Nobody publicly called out the companies or pressured Turkey, the hub of the financial network, to shut it down.

A Times investigation found that both senior Israeli and American officials failed to prioritize financial intelligence — which they had in hand — showing that tens of millions of dollars flowed from the companies to Hamas at the exact moment that it was buying new weapons and preparing an attack.

That money, American and Israeli officials now say, helped Hamas build up its military infrastructure and helped lay the groundwork for the Oct. 7 attacks.

“Everyone is talking about failures of intelligence on Oct. 7, but no one is talking about the failure to stop the money,” said Udi Levy, a former chief of Mossad’s economic warfare division. “It’s the money — the money — that allowed this.”

At its peak, Israeli and American officials now say, the portfolio had a value of roughly half a billion dollars.

Even after the Treasury Department finally levied sanctions against the network in 2022, records show, Hamas-linked figures were able to obtain millions of dollars by selling shares in a blacklisted company. The Treasury Department now fears that such money flows will allow Hamas to finance its continuing war with Israel and to rebuild when it is over.

Members of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, next to a model of an Ababil drone in 2022 during a rally in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip

“It’s something we are deeply worried about and expect to see given the financial stress Hamas is under,” said Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “What we are trying to do is disrupt that.”

That was what Israel’s terrorism-finance investigators hoped to do with their 2018 discovery. But at the top echelons of the Israeli and American governments, officials focused on putting together a series of financial sanctions against Iran. Neither country prioritized Hamas.

Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.

Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.

“I can tell you for sure that I talked to him about this,” Mr. Levy said. “But he didn’t care that much about it.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s Mossad chief shut down Mr. Levy’s team, Task Force Harpoon, that focused on disrupting the money flowing to groups including Hamas.

Former Harpoon agents grew so frustrated with the inaction that they uploaded some documents to Facebook, hoping that companies and investors would find them and stop doing business with Hamas-linked companies.

In the years that followed the 2018 discovery, Hamas’s money network burrowed deeper into the mainstream financial system, records show.

The Turkish company at the heart of the operation had such a sheen of legitimacy that major American and European banks managed shares on behalf of clients. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints invested tens of thousands of dollars before the company was placed under sanction.

The Times reviewed previously undisclosed intelligence documents and corporate records and interviewed dozens of current officials from the United States, Israel, Turkey and Hamas’s financial network. Some spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

Israeli intelligence and security agencies have apologized for the failings that led up to the Oct. 7 attacks.

Mr. Netanyahu has acknowledged that his government failed to protect its people and said that he would face, and answer, tough questions after the war. He has denied, though, that he took his eye off Hamas. But he declined to answer questions from The Times about the ledgers or the hunt for Hamas’s money.

Israeli security and intelligence officials, working from a secure compound outside Tel Aviv, spent years tracking Hamas’s money. By 2015, they were on to what they called Hamas’s “secret investment portfolio.”

Terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State often use front companies to launder money. But here, Israeli agents saw something different, more ambitious: a multinational network of real businesses churning out real profits.

On paper, they looked like unrelated companies. But over and over, the Israelis said they identified the same Hamas-linked figures as shareholders, executives and board members.

There were people like Hisham Qafisheh, a white-goateed Jordanian who studied in Saudi Arabia and had a knack for finding political support. One of his companies won a $500 million highway contract in Sudan.

Then there was Amer Al-Shawa, a Turkish man of Palestinian descent who studied electrical engineering in Ohio and more recently spent five months under interrogation in an Emirati jail on suspicion of funding Hamas.

At the top was Ahmed Odeh, a heavyset Jordanian businessman with years of experience in Saudi Arabia. The Israelis learned — and the Americans now say much of this publicly — that Hamas’s governing Shura Council had given Mr. Odeh seed money to build and manage a portfolio of companies.

Hamas, the de facto governing body of Gaza, relied principally on Iran to fund its military wing. But Hamas wanted its own funding stream, too.

The Israeli security services operated a terrorism-finance investigative team at the time called Task Force Harpoon. It put people from across counterterrorism — spies, soldiers, police officers, accountants, lawyers — under the same umbrella and gave them a direct report to the prime minister. The task force even had an economic warfare unit within the Mossad intelligence agency that could covertly act on the intelligence it had gathered.

“We didn’t have any rivalries,” Tamir Pardo, the Mossad chief at the time, said in an interview. “No one got credit for any one operation. It just worked.”

Harpoon, he said, was “one of the most important tools the Mossad had.” It churned out intelligence to financial regulators, law enforcement agencies, politicians and allies in Washington, helping Israel win financial sanctions targeting Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah.

Mr. Levy, who ran Harpoon and its dedicated economic warfare unit, recalled the first time he heard about Hamas’s portfolio.

 Amer Al-Shawa

“One of the guys on my team, a Mossad guy, showed it to me,” Mr. Levy said. “What we understood then was that they had these companies to make a little bit of money and to use them as a legal platform to transfer money from place to place.”

Back then, the consensus among Israeli officials was that Iran was the bigger threat. It had nuclear ambitions and armed both Hamas and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. So the bulk of the task force’s attention remained focused there.

Mr. Levy, who ran Harpoon and its dedicated economic warfare unit, recalled the first time he heard about Hamas’s portfolio.

“One of the guys on my team, a Mossad guy, showed it to me,” Mr. Levy said. “What we understood then was that they had these companies to make a little bit of money and to use them as a legal platform to transfer money from place to place.”

Back then, the consensus among Israeli officials was that Iran was the bigger threat. It had nuclear ambitions and armed both Hamas and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. So the bulk of the task force’s attention remained focused there.

Still, Mr. Levy said the discovery was enough of a “red flag” that he told Mr. Netanyahu about it.

A 2014 war between Israel and Hamas had left Hamas’s fortifications in ruins and its arsenal depleted.

Hamas, though, was able to rebuild. In 2016, Israeli intelligence officials noted that the group was obtaining GPS jammers, drones and precision weapons, according to a military document reviewed by The Times.

Hamas had added about 6,000 operatives to its ranks since the war ended, and the military had learned that Hamas was developing plans to storm Israeli communities and take hostages.

That same year, the new Mossad chief, Yossi Cohen, dismantled Harpoon as part of an agency reorganization, according to Mr. Levy and others.

By 2016, Mr. Netanyahu’s government had begun pursuing a strategy to contain Hamas by allowing the Qataris to send money to Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu says that money was humanitarian aid. Privately, he told others that stabilizing Hamas would lessen pressure on him to negotiate toward a Palestinian state.

Mr. Levy left government that year. A new group of intelligence agents and specialists from a few other agencies kept chasing the money, only without the organizational structure and direct access to senior policymakers.

This new group soon made another alarming discovery.

Up until that point, members of the team told The Times, they had estimated that Hamas was taking about $10 million to $15 million annually from their companies’ profits.

Then they learned, based on sources and other intelligence, that Hamas had sold off some of the secret portfolio’s assets, raising more than $75 million. That money, according to an Israeli intelligence assessment, was sent to Gaza, where it was used to rebuild Hamas’s military infrastructure.

Tamir Pardo, a former head of Mossad, in September in Herzliya, Israel. The Harpoon Task Force, he said, was “one of the most important tools the Mossad had.”

The Israeli authorities have now concluded that this influx of money not only helped Hamas prepare for the Oct. 7 attacks, but gave leaders confidence that they would have the money to rebuild afterward, according to five Israeli security officials.

Mr. Levy left government that year. A new group of intelligence agents and specialists from a few other agencies kept chasing the money, only without the organizational structure and direct access to senior policymakers.

This new group soon made another alarming discovery.

Up until that point, members of the team told The Times, they had estimated that Hamas was taking about $10 million to $15 million annually from their companies’ profits.

Then they learned, based on sources and other intelligence, that Hamas had sold off some of the secret portfolio’s assets, raising more than $75 million. That money, according to an Israeli intelligence assessment, was sent to Gaza, where it was used to rebuild Hamas’s military infrastructure.

The Israeli authorities have now concluded that this influx of money not only helped Hamas prepare for the Oct. 7 attacks, but gave leaders confidence that they would have the money to rebuild afterward, according to five Israeli security officials.

Exactly how significant that money was to the Oct. 7 attacks is unknown. Israeli officials have promised an inquiry into the intelligence failures that led up to the attacks, and new details may emerge.

But what is clear is that the Israeli government took no public action against the Hamas-linked companies. Instead, it decided to build a case to get the United States government to shut the companies off from the global financial system. But that would take time, and more evidence.

Exactly how Israeli intelligence obtained the ledgers — whether from an informant or a computer hack — remains unclear. But in 2018, the team got the proof it had been seeking.

Residents in 2014 outside their destroyed homes in Beit Lahia, in the Gaza Strip.Credit...Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

The documents were created by Mahmoud Ghazal, a man whom the Israelis had identified as the Hamas portfolio’s bookkeeper.

The ledgers spanned 2012 to 2018 and contained entries and valuations for companies that the agents had been monitoring in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey and elsewhere. The records also contained familiar names, including Mr. Qafisheh and Mr. Al-Shawa.

The documents were hard evidence of what the Israelis had long suspected: Despite what public records said, Hamas was in control.

“It was a big breakthrough,” said one official involved in the investigation. “Hamas could hide behind frontmen and shareholders, but the money always talks.”

The ledgers also contained coded entries that puzzled investigators, but one document was a sort of Rosetta Stone: “QG” for instance, referred to Qitaa Ghaza, or the Gaza Strip. “D” referred to Daffa, or the West Bank. Beside each was a large dollar figure. From this, the Israelis deduced where Hamas was sending its money.

This discovery was quickly bolstered by intelligence from Saudi Arabia. In mid-2018, the Saudis arrested Mr. Ghazal, the Hamas accountant, and two other men who corporate records show held positions in 18 companies in the portfolio.

Under interrogation, Mr. Ghazal confessed that the portfolio existed to transfer money to Hamas, according to records related to the three men’s arrests that were viewed by The Times. He also said that, just as the Israelis had long suspected, Mr. Odeh directed where the money went.

The two other men told their interrogators that they were shareholders in name only. Their stakes were actually owned by Mr. Qafisheh, the goateed Jordanian who had also been on the Israeli radar screen for years. Mr. Qafisheh, the men said, was a Hamas operative.

Yossi Cohen in 2019 in Tel Aviv. As chief of Mossad in 2016, he dismantled Harpoon.Credit...Corinna Kern/Reuters

The documents do not say what the Saudis did to elicit the confessions. The kingdom’s harsh interrogation techniques have earned it international condemnation.

The Saudis shared the materials with Washington, according to officials with direct knowledge of the matter, knowing that Washington would share them with its close ally Israel. The Saudi monarchy has no tolerance for Hamas and hoped that Washington would blacklist the companies, the officials said.

The Israeli team shared the ledgers and its intelligence with American officials in early 2019, hoping to encourage financial sanctions.

But then, nothing.

The Trump administration did not act. Treasury Department officials said that they did not delay any decisions. Issuing sanctions, they said, is a complicated process. And Israel, which was more focused on getting the Americans to issue Iranian sanctions, did not press for more urgent actions, both Israeli and American officials say.

“We have great people still who are trying to do this work,” Mr. Levy said. “But if no one at a high level is putting this as a priority, what can they do?”

Though the investment portfolio spanned many countries, Turkey was key.

In a photograph provided by state media, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, right, is seen meeting with Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political chief, in 2020 in Istanbul.Credit...Murat Kula/Anadolu Agency, via Getty Images

The Saudis had made clear with their arrests that Hamas was not welcome. And the financiers had lost much of their Sudanese income with the fall of the autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, has not criminalized Hamas nor has it clearly restricted Hamas’s activities in Turkey.

By 2019, Mr. Odeh was in Turkey, as was Mr. Qafisheh.

Mr. Al-Shawa, the Ohio-educated engineer who had been in Israel’s sights for years, spent 135 days in Emirati jails before being released in 2015 — without explanation “and without breakfast,” he told The Times in an interview. He returned to Turkey.

Mr. Erdogan was a major proponent of the nation’s building industry, which was good news for the company at the center of the Hamas portfolio: a real estate developer named Trend GYO.

Trend took advantage of Mr. Erdogan’s building boom. It brought in an investor, Hamid Al Ahmar, with ties to the president. And it reorganized itself as a real estate investment trust, which had Turkish tax advantages, and went public.

Trend’s general manager, Mr. Al-Shawa, said he had no real power at the company. The board, he said, made all of the decisions. He denied being involved with Hamas, but he said that he suspected others at Trend were.

Hamid Al AhmarCredit...Yahya Arhab/European Pressphoto Agency

“Do I have proof? No. But sometimes you just have a feeling,” he said. “I really didn’t care. Why should I? I was there to make money.”

Mr. Odeh and Mr. Al Ahmar declined to comment through intermediaries. Trend would not pass messages seeking comment to Mr. Qafisheh, and a spokeswoman said he and Mr. Al Ahmar were no longer involved with the company. The spokeswoman said the question of whether Hamas owned the company was “ridiculous and meaningless.” She said Trend was appealing its Treasury designation. Hamas, through its media office in Lebanon, declined to comment.

Foreign investors piled in. In 2019, while Washington sat on the ledgers, American and European banks held more than 3 percent of the company’s publicly traded shares on behalf of clients, Turkish financial records show. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’s investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, bought more than 200,000 shares.

There is no indication that the church or the Western banks knew about any Hamas ties at the time. A church spokesman said that a U.S.-based investment adviser, Acadian Asset Management, bought the shares on its behalf. An Acadian spokesman said the company had “complied with all relevant laws.”

While the sanctions proposal languished, Israeli and American officials now say, Hamas appointed a new investment chief, Musa Dudin. Unlike his predecessors, he was a well-known Hamas military operative who had spent 18 years in an Israeli prison for his role in deadly attacks.

Mr. Dudin, too, has resettled in Turkey. Mr. Dudin declined to comment through an intermediary.

Meanwhile, Hamas-linked owners began cashing out. In 2019, Mr. Qafisheh sold more than $500,000 worth of stock, corporate filings show. In 2020, Mr. Al Ahmar sold shares worth $1.6 million.

The company’s owners got money out of the company another way, too. Mr. Al-Shawa, in his interview, said that the board pushed him to award Trend contracts to a construction company that Mr. Qafisheh owned with two other Trend shareholders.

Company records show that Trend paid that company more than $7.5 million from 2018 to 2022 — one example of how Hamas-linked figures pulled cash from the portfolio.

Trend, in a written statement, said it had paid the construction company “in accordance with commercial practices and legal rules” and no longer has a relationship with the company.

The Israeli agents understood that Iranian sanctions would take precedence over Hamas but were frustrated by the delays. At their wits’ end, former Task Force Harpoon members took a desperate step. In June 2021, they uploaded some of the Hamas financial records to Facebook. The documents revealed a few nodes of the secret network, including Trend. It is unclear whether that was authorized.

The goal was to create a trail of online breadcrumbs for journalists, financial investigators and others to follow. The Facebook post generated a smattering of news coverage.

The Trend GYO headquarters in Istanbul. 

“There wasn’t any way to use the intelligence we had,” said Uzi Shaya, a former Mossad agent and Harpoon member. “It was almost done as a last resort.”

Finally, in May 2022, the Treasury Department announced financial sanctions against what it called an expansive Hamas funding network. Mr. Odeh and Mr. Qafisheh were named as financiers.

“The United States is committed to denying Hamas the ability to generate and move funds and to holding Hamas accountable for its role in promoting and carrying out violence,” the department said.

Trend was financially blacklisted, as were several other associated companies.

All had been named in the ledgers that the Israeli team had given the Americans three years earlier.

Musa Dudin

Late last month, Mr. Nelson, the Treasury Department official, flew to Turkey to urge the Turkish government to stop sheltering Hamas’s money.

“It’s the highest priority in our building,” he said in an interview this month. The department recently added Mr. Dudin, Mr. Al-Shawa and others to the financial blacklist. Mr. Al-Shawa said he was appealing the decision.

Mr. Erdogan has given no indication that he intends to recognize those sanctions. After the Oct. 7 attacks, he declared that Hamas was not a terrorist organization, but a “liberation group.”

Americans “are the only ones who set the law in the world and all others follow,” Hasan Turan, a member of Parliament from Mr. Erdogan’s governing party, said in a recent interview. “It is not acceptable.”

Mr. Turan even met with Mr. Al Ahmar, the former Trend investor, last month to discuss ways to support the Palestinians.

The value of Trend’s stock, which is still traded on the Istanbul exchange, has more than doubled since it was added to the sanctions list. During that same period, two Trend shareholders now under sanction sold $4.3 million in stock, corporate filings show. Asked if that money went to Hamas, the company’s chairman said he did not know and it would be inappropriate to ask.

And as recently as this year, Hamas-tied companies and people under sanction were still able to hold Turkish bank accounts in U.S. dollars, banking records reviewed by The Times show, despite ostensibly being cut off from the American financial system.

Mr. Pardo, the former Mossad chief, said he did not know what happened after he left in 2016. But “from the results,” he said, “you can judge that they had a lot of money.”

“I believe that if someone would have chased the money and stopped it,” he added, “we wouldn’t be seeing the results of what we see today.”

Mr. Levy, the former Harpoon deputy, grows emotional when he talks about the Hamas money. “I want to do everything we can to prevent war,” he said. “I really believed that we could do that by going after the financial infrastructure of terrorist groups. But we have to be serious.”

Ronen Bergman contributed reporting from Tel Aviv, and Patrick Kingsley from Jerusalem.

 Israeli Failed to Act After Discovering Hamas Assets Worth Half a Billion-dollars, New York Times Reports 

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-17/ty-article/israel-failed-to-act-after-finding-hamas-assets-worth-half-a-billion-dollars-nyt-reports/0000018c-74e3-d48b-a5ec-74f382e00000

 Senior Israeli and American officials were aware of secret documents detailing Hamas' network – worth hundreds of millions of dollars – since 2018, which are now believed to have financed the October 7 attacks 

Palestinian terrorists climb an Israeli tank seized from the Gaza border, on October 7.Credit: Hatem Ali/AP

Palestinians exiting Kfar Azza, an Israeli community near the Gaza border, on October 7.Credit: Hassan Eslaiah/AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office in Jerusalem, last week.Credit: Ronen Zvulun/AP

Hamas' private equity fund, filled with assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the details of which were uncovered in 2018, is believed to have laid the groundwork for the group's October 7 assault on southern Israel, according to a report in the New York Times.

Israeli security officials found secret documents, which were also reviewed by The New York Times, exposing that Hamas controlled "mining, chicken farming and road building companies in Sudan, tin skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates, a property developer in Algeria and a real estate firm listed on the Turkish stock exchange," according to the report.

At its peak, Hamas' portfolio had a value of about half a billion dollars, the Times said. Although the findings were a major intelligence coup that had the potential to stifle Hamas' money flow and foil its plans, no one sanctioned or publically called out the companies named in the documents for years.
 

• The best way for Israel to destroy Hamas is attacking its financial sources
• Tunnels of cash and cryptocurrency: Hamas' finances explained
• Why did Netanyahu want to strengthen Hamas?

According to the investigation, both senior Israeli and American officials failed to follow up on the financial intelligence that showed that tens of millions of dollars were flowing to Hamas while they were buying new weapons.

The report claims that even after the U.S. Treasury Department eventually levied sanctions against the companies in the network, Hamas figures were still able to gather millions of dollars by selling shares in a blacklisted company. The U.S. Treasury Department is concerned about the possibility that such streams will "allow Hamas to finance its continuing war with Israel and to rebuild when it is over," the report said.

Israeli leadership considered Hamas more interested in governing than in combat, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged Qatar to shower extensive funds on Gaza, in the hopes that it would bring stability.

Former Mossad's Economic Warfare Chief Udi Levy recalls briefing Netanyahu on Hamas' portfolio in 2015, saying Netanyhau "didn't care that much about it." Levy's team, Task Force Harpoon, which was responsible for disrupting money flows to groups like Hamas, was shut down the subsequent year.

• 2023 Israel-Gaza War
• Hamas
• Mossad

Haaretz | Opinion

Opinion | 

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-12-25/ty-article-opinion/.premium/dont-believe-the-idf-and-israeli-analysts-theres-no-solution-to-hamas-tunnels/0000018c-a2af-d408-a99f-efff01240000?dicbo=v2-2mXagU6&utm_source=traffic.outbrain.com&utm_medium=referrer&utm_campaign=outbrain_organic

 Yitzhak Brik

Dec 25, 2023

Based on the information I have received from soldiers and officers fighting in the Gaza Strip since the war 

Based on the information I have received from soldiers and officers fighting in the Gaza Strip since the war started, I have reached the following conclusion: The spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces and the military analysts in television studios are presenting a false picture of the thousands of Hamas dead and the face-to-face fight being waged between our forces and theirs.

 Haaretz | Israel News

Analysis | 

The genocide case at the Hague was not triggered by a disproportionate military response or the high number of Palestinian casualties. It is the direct result of an Israeli political trait: reckless and incendiary verbosity, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condoned. He even added some gems of his own

Share in FacebookShare in TwitterShare in WhatsAppSend in e-mailSend in e-mail
 

 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-12/ty-article/.premium/at-intl-court-of-justice-israel-presents-robust-defense-despite-half-wit-politicians/0000018c-fdaa-d517-af9d-fdbe8aee0000

 Alon Pinkas

Jan 12, 2024 4:06 pm IST

It was an uncalled for, sad and bad day for Israel at the International Court of Justice in the Hague on Friday.

It was an uncalled for, sad and bad day for Israel at the International Court of Justice in the Hague on Friday.

SUBSCRIBE

Cancel anytime
Already signed up? Log in

orContinue reading this article for freeRegister with your e-mail addressEmail *Sign Up

We will send you a daily email with articles you actually want to read. By signing up, you agree to Haaretz’s terms and conditions

Hamas Pogrom Demonstrates That Zionism Has Failed, Says Israeli Historian Moshe Zimmermann

 A pioneering Israeli scholar of German history, Prof. Moshe Zimmermann looks back to 1930s Europe in order to understand where Israel is headed 

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-29/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/the-hamas-pogrom-demonstrates-that-zionism-has-failed-says-historian-moshe-zimmermann/0000018c-b225-d45c-a98e-bb6d24480000?dicbo=v2-htuqJxB&utm_source=traffic.outbrain.com&utm_medium=referrer&utm_campaign=outbrain_organic

 Ofer Aderet 

 Dec 29, 2023 

 Ofer AderetGet email notification for articles from Ofer AderetFollowDec 29, 2023

In the early 1960s, Moshe Zimmermann's mother was summoned for a reprimand by the principal of Ma'aleh High School in Jerusalem. She was asked to explain why her boy, who was a good student, had drawn a likeness of a man in an SS uniform on a table in the school. The fact that both the principal and the mother were proud Yekkes – Jews of German-speaking origin – undoubtedly added to the mutual embarrassment. Not to mention the fact that Moshe's father was the principal of the adjacent primary school.

 Haaretz | OpinionOpinion | 

For decades we've been brought up believing that only military force can ensure the state's survival, while denying rights to the Palestinians. That's just one of many sad answers to the question

 Amira Hass

18th December 2023

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-12-18/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israel-killed-thousands-of-children-in-gaza-how-can-so-many-israelis-remain-indifferent/0000018c-788c-d55c-a7cc-fb8edb100000?dicbo=v2-yoZD6Ji&utm_source=traffic.outbrain.com&utm_medium=referrer&utm_campaign=outbrain_organic

The Gaza Strip is gradually being erased, along with its families, its people, its children, their smiles and laughter. What enables the majority of Jewish Israelis to support this systematic and mass erasure?

 Israel News | Travel in IsraelOpinion | 

Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion International Airport is empty, foreign airlines aren't flying here, and Israelis are only dreaming about a vacation

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/travel/2024-01-09/ty-article/.premium/grounded-israelis-are-currently-not-part-of-the-world/0000018c-ee39-d0b4-a7ce-ff7b9e460000

Moshe Gilad 

9th January  2024

Every year in late December or early January, Haaretz publishes a list of destinations worth traveling to in the coming year. It's the song of hope of all frequent travelers. This year there won't be such a list.

Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, firearms have been transformed from a means of protection to a status symbol and statement

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-11/ty-article-magazine/.premium/biggest-fashion-trend-in-israel-in-2024-firearms/0000018c-f3dd-d6ce-abcc-fbdf22600000

  Roy Schwartz 

11th January 2024

All photos in this article were taken by Haaretz readers and submitted to the Hebrew edition's Instagram page.

SUBSCRIBE

Cancel anytime
Already signed up? Log in

On the way to the Dead Sea coastline are 6,000 to 8,000 sinkholes, with about 400 added each year. Israeli geologists suggest routes that would make the area accessible and safe, but it's hard to say how many years it will take to stop the Dead Sea from sinking

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-24/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israel-is-losing-ground-at-the-dead-sea/0000018c-87eb-d9c6-a1dd-f7efe8670000?dicbo=v2-o6wnmhT&utm_source=traffic.outbrain.com&utm_medium=referrer&utm_campaign=outbrain_organic

The meaning of the phrase "ground falling out from beneath our feet" is that the foundation of our existence has been shaken. The foundation on which our lives are based is lost. On the coast of the Dead Sea, opposite the kibbutz of Ein Gedi, there's no need for metaphors. The ground is literally falling out from beneath our feet, and unexpectedly, the sight is simultaneously awesome and heartbreaking.

  Moshe Gilad 

24th December 2023

 Polarized: Israel-Gaza War Is Forcing Young U.S. Jews to Choose Sides 

 Some are ramping up their pro-Israel activity, while others yearn for 'a Jewish communal space that is non- or anti-Zionist.' The stakes are too high to sit out 

 Judy Maltz

New York

Dec 26, 2023

NEW YORK – When she began her university studies three years ago, Luda Isakharov was part of the first cohort in a new program launched by Hillel, the Jewish campus organization, training students to become advocates for Israel.

 Comments

I am an old and old-fashioned Jew. I am on the side of justice. At this moment in time fighting for justice means fighting for the rights of Palestinians, and the hearts and souls of Israeli Jews, which have been twisted and warped by their treatment of the Palestinians. As the old saying goes, "Nobody is free until everybody is free." 

I am also an old Jew who is on the side of justice, justice Israel has never granted the Palestinians. Israel's decades of harsh treatment of the Palestinians is a guarantee that Jews will not be safe in Israel. In fact in today's world Jews are less safe in Israel than they are in many other places in the world. Only the end of the 56 years of brutal occupation and giving Palestinians the justice, freedom and human rights that Israel has denied them will bring freedom to both Jews and Palestinians. The choice is up to Israel. 

At the same time, I think there are many who see what followed October 7, which is to say the war in Gaza, as a reflection of all that's gone wrong with Zionism in Israel."That's a good description of how I feel -- and I'm in my late 70's.So it's not just "students" who are affected, when Israel answers a chillul haShem with an even worse chillul haShem. 

Those idiot, soulless kids need to be slapped into consciousness. 

How do you suggest dealing with Hamas? Not saying Israel is 100% right, but what’s an alternative way to fight Hamas, an organization committed to Israel’s annihilation no matter what it does ? 

Fight smarter, not harder. Create a secure haven for Palestinians to come to, to be out of harms way, which would have left Hamas at home and given Israel a huge bartering chip and far less casualty and admonishment. But Zionists are just like Hamas in reverse. They want this war, they want to eradicate Gazans, if not all Arabs. And they have American funded tools to do it with that they've been dying to use. With Hamas it is understandable. Living 70 years in an Israeli shetl as opposed to the six years Jews lived in a German one, would cause anyone to go mad eventually. 

Oct. 7th has established and galvanized the next generation of pro-Israel Jews who will drive strong bilateral ties for future decades. Sculpture students and untenured history profs don't drive policy - lawyers, finance and tech workers do. Nobody, literally nobody, can smell like JVP and enter these professions while being vocally anti-Israel. JVP promotes a blood libel that Israel trains American police to murder Black Americans. Let's get real. Plenty of radical chic students rooted for North Vietnam, too. Where are they now? 

Those "radical chic" students continued living their lives, and became lawyers, finance, and tech workers. Many joined synagogues, while keeping their "progressive" politics (which is a majority position in many liberal synagogues) 

Jewish student leader, Luda Isakharov, is quoted here of saying of her role before Oct 7: "...most of the time, we could lead our everyday lives without having to think much about what was going on in the Middle East." - What? Is that leadership? What about Israel's anti-democratic Nation-State Law? What about the anti-Democratic attempt to overhaul the judiciary? What about the illegal settlements and the even more illegal outposts and the increasing settler violence--and all the problems associated with the occupation, even in the control of Gaza--not to mention the cost of all this at the expense of other greater needs in Israel? These student leaders are invested in connectivity with Israel--so how did these disasters (which finally exploded), whatever one's politics, add up something that didn't have to be "thought much about"? These leaders are utterly irresponsible--and they have left the ownership of all these matters to others who they now complain about. 

Exactly. "...most of the time, we could lead our everyday lives without having to think much about what was going on in the Middle East."This epitomizes the lazy “occupation? what occupation? I don’t know what’s going on over there but it’s complicated and not really my business” attitude of both Americans and Israelis. “Over there” is 6000 miles more for the American crowd but for complacent Israelis it might as well be 6000 miles not 30 miles for all they ever paid attention. But now Luda is throwing herself into “hasbara work full-time, our whole lives are centered on what is happening in Israel, You can't get away from it." Whereas she very easily could “get away from” the occupation for years before October 7. And note also the naiveté, sweet innocence, ignorance contained in “I realized that it mattered very little whether I thought the prime minister of Israel was a good person.”

I have had long-standing dealings with people like this for years--and the most outstanding feature of their position is not that they don't know anything (they don't) but that they don't want to know. And any of my attempts to send out warnings were immediately interpreted as attacks. Consider the irony: people who profess to care so much about Israel avoid knowing about it comprehensively, and don't even consider that warnings may be helpful. This is a version of "Yes-man-ship"--and where has that ever gotten anyone?  

More: on one occasion I was looking at one of these ignorant pro-Israel blogs--and the denizens were agitated because an article had appeared in a newspaper noting some Jewish-committed atrocity that took place in the 1948 war--sourced by the Israeli State Archive itself. That Israel itself should reference this was incomprehensible to the denizens and immediately the quest started for the Bad Leftist that they consider lurks beneath every seemingly negative comment on Israel--and they found their culprit!--in the form of the seemingly Left-wing reporter on this matter in the newspaper they had read, who--they claimed--did not put things in proper context (context is always left out of that blog, anyway). So--instead of learning and discussing the actual matter at hand, the whole discussion turned to the badness of Leftists. This has gone beyond the craft of diversion into the art of diversion. We are dealing with "art". 

Thanks, Lorraine and AriK, for these very interesting insights. 

The casual racism is so tedious.She said "Jewish student leader" NOT "Israeli student leader"Diaspora Jews are not extensions of the Israeli state. The common assumptions otherwise are simple bigotry. 

My American Jewish daughters are in their mid-20’s, they are confident in their Jewish identity, and they were raised in a multi ethnic environment that was majority minority. If they and their Jewish/non-Jewish friends are any indication of what American young people born after the mid 1990’s think about Israel, then Israel is in deep, deep trouble. The younger generation views Israel as militaristic, racist, and as an Afrikaner South Afrika, where right wing extremism defines Jewish identity. In contrast, American supporters of Israel are older, they are culturally, & religiously more conservative, the Holocaust defined their need for an Israel and they are ALL white. Being called anti-Semitic doesn’t bother my daughters or their friends because they look at who is making the accusations, as one of their friends told me, “It’s like an American White right wing extremist group deciding who is and is not a real American”. 

Relevant anecdote, but it doesn't spell trouble for Israel. Israel now has much stronger Gen Z support among smart, motivated professionals of all stripes who are savvy and support Israel through fundraising, advocacy and other efforts that are designed to actually WORK, not attract attention. The crowd of loud anti-Zionist kids seem formidable only because they pour their efforts into one thing - being visible. They don't have actual representation outside of the squad, DSA etc. who are now explicitly and consistently pandering to anti-Semites in a few urban areas. 

Don't underestimate the "loud kids" ...money doesn't always win. 

You should thank those kids for being visible. They are a counterweight to those (Jewish and non) who insist that all Jews think the same and all Jews support the slaughter of Gaza and the thug settlers in the West Bank. Which leaves Jews everywhere holding the bag for whatever new atrocity Bibi and his friends can dream up to grab more land for Israel, and stay out of jail.Yes, the Israeli response to 10/7 certainly gave some real anti-Semites cover to crawl out of their holes, but the insistence by pro-Israelis that Jews are a monolith leads less-informed Palestinian sympathizers to see ALL Jews as some kind of auxiliary battalion of the IDF. 

Such ignorance is shameful. Siding with Palestinians has nothing to do with supporting JVP or speaking against Israel in the vocal wayIs done in the US. It demonstrates such entitlement, such little knowledge of history and such a privileged life. But they’re in for a surprise. As always in history those who hate Jews will hate them with or without Israel. Israel is only the new excuse, and none of these Antisemites care about these ‘Jews’ ‘ opinions. They’re are just Jews in the eyes. And will hate them all the same 

I guess I might be one of those in the "middle". I sympathize with JVP but I can't support them because they are anti Zionist. I support Americans for Peace Now. Many years ago, I was more pro Israel than Israel. This was true during the Yum Kippur War. I passionately believed that Jews are indigenous to the Holy Land, and this is partly true. But let's be real. How many lived there in the 19th century when the Zionist movement began? Other groups are also indigenous to Palestine, so we need to share the land. Period. The moral argument for Israel rests mainly on the need to find a new home for refugees from Nazi occupied Europe. 

It’s a sad truth that a major reason Jews need Israel is the awful record of humankind. But Israel has always been much more, where Jewish culture and religion can once again flourish our homeland. For too many, it’s only about “the conflict”, which itself is a huge deal, but Israel is sooo much more than that 

There is no middle ground. We might delay the great war, but ultimately as long as Umarian Islam exists, Hamas will exist - waiting for the opportunity to send the Jews to the sea. As long as we perpetuate the British fiction that the descendants of the Ottoman invasion are "indigenous Palestinians" - Hamas will flourish. There is no middle ground, there is no non-Zionist Judaism. If one does not one believe that Jews have a right to thrive in the lands HaShem gave to Isaac, then why do they have a right to thrive anywhere. Umarian Islam believes they have the right to rule the world. There will not be peace until Umarian Islam, like Nazism, is vanquished.Today, on campuses and town squares, in Congress and the U.N., “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." Elie Wiesel.

You need some serious deradicalization treatment before it's too late, but maybe it already is. Disgusting.

Read and listen to Ilan Pappe, Norman Finkelstein and Miko Peled, experts on Israel living outside of the country. They say that Apartheid Israel is a diabolical creation, and rightly so

The Three Stooges of Jewish Academia.
 

Do me a favor and widen your reading list. 

Finkelstein wrote that October 7 "warms every fiber of my soul" and Pappe thinks Hamas are freedom fighters who "had to act" on October 7.If you're reading people who think raping people to death is a legitimate part of a national liberation struggle, you are probably misinformed. 

This terrible war was and is not our choice. We have no alternative but to fight for our rights, freedom and lives. Jews outside of Israel are also suffering and we stand with them .There are no other alternatives rather than standing up and facing this reality assertively and proudly. No more apologies for being JEWS… 

"Not In Our Name" inadvertently belies the core weakness of most JVP people. Except for a core group, it's not about Palestinians, it's about THEM and their vanity. Anyone who uses a war to center THEMSELVES doesn't have serious convictions about Judaism or Palestinians, and won't keep up the effort beyond its usefulness to ego and personal brand. 

The right wing American hasbara newbies center themselves the same way. 

Using the Holocaust no stop is an insult to its victims but Zionists do not seems to understand it. They make it about them and it is not. Never again but show respect to the Holocaust victims please. 

And what does "anti-Zionism" mean exactly? You think the destruction of a country has much to do with "peace" or "justice"? 

I guess that, by definition, anyone who disagrees with you, is in it for show. Keep saying that if it makes you feel better. BTW I'm nearly 70 and I have no reason to attract attention to myself. Au contraire, I'd rather keep silent then get into ugly arguments. 

 Senior Israeli Police Officer Accused of Sexual Misconduct 

 The officer, who was charged with breach of trust, was also ordered to stay away from the station for a week. The woman in question is completing her national service as a volunteer in the police station the suspect supervises 

 A police officer with the rank of chief superintendent was questioned on Thursday on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with a woman under his command. 

 Josh Breiner

Josh Breiner

Jan 13, 2024 

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-13/ty-article/.premium/senior-israeli-police-officer-accused-of-sexual-misconduct/0000018d-0210-d832-a59d-16b78b180000

Comments

Should be fired and prosecuted. These volunteer girls need to be safe and their parents need to know that the system protects their daughters dignity and legal rights. 

 Haaretz | Israel News

After both South Africa and Israel presented their preliminary arguments in the International Court of Justice, Israel's conduct in Gaza and political rhetoric has become the focus of the world's attention. What comes next is up to the court

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-13/ty-article/.premium/two-days-of-genocide-hearings-at-the-hague-conclude-as-israel-enters-worlds-microscope/0000018c-ffef-d517-af9d-ffff79140000

 Chen Maanit

 Chen Maanit

Jan 13, 2024

After two days of hearings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Israeli international law experts assessed that the Israel legal team did a good and professional job under the circumstances in rebutting claims of genocide presented by South Africa.

 Haaretz | Opinion

Opinion | 

 Since the publication of the petition filed by South Africa to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the public discussion in Israel has focused – perhaps in horror, perhaps in amusement – on the chapter describing the murderous statements of Israeli public figures, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to singer Kobi Peretz and broadcaster Yinon Magal. 

 Haaretz - 

Faced with the charge of genocide at The Hague, Israelis are deeply defensive, pointing at the horrors committed by Hamas on October 7. But the global list of victims and perpetrators of mass atrocities is long, and neither Israelis nor Palestinians are immune to the accusation

Dahlia Scheindlin

Dahlia Scheindlin

Jan 10, 2024

In that first week after October 7, when Israelis stumbled around in a daze sharing half-formed thoughts of anguish, someone said to me: "Has anything like this ever happened before – anywhere?" We had been gazing at the wrenching display in what rapidly became known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, struggling to comprehend the slaughter. The only truthful answer was yes.

 Israel is above the law

 Israelis Can't Understand How They Could Be Accused of Genocide 

 Faced with the charge of genocide at The Hague, Israelis are deeply defensive, pointing at the horrors committed by Hamas on October 7. But the global list of victims and perpetrators of mass atrocities is long, and neither Israelis nor Palestinians are immune to the accusation 

 Dahlia Scheindlin 

10th January 2024

Why me? Why me? Israel will go down in history as Genocide perpetrators 

Great article. I think any population swept up is a population with an illness. It’s probably difficult for Israelis to see but they became the monsters they’re afraid of. 

In that first week after October 7, when Israelis stumbled around in a daze sharing half-formed thoughts of anguish, someone said to me: "Has anything like this ever happened before – anywhere?" We had been gazing at the wrenching display in what rapidly became known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, struggling to comprehend the slaughter. The only truthful answer was yes.

Comments

A really fine article. 

Israeli Jews also can’t understand why they are reserve the right of defining who is a Jew & what is Israel, but also reserve the right to determine who and what is not a Palestinian.

Can you imagine being ‘defined’ as a Jew until you land at BG airport? Nonsense James. Whether one is a Jew or not should have absolutely nothing to do with where one lives. No single nation should have the exclusive right to pontificate on what religion people are.  

"Jewishness" is only loosely associated with Judaism -- itself a term that encompasses complex and diverse points of view. There are plenty of secular individuals who identify as "Jewish", both in Israel and elsewhere in the world. 

"Israelis Can't Understand How They Could Be Accused of Genocide". That may be the case if they only listen to/watch Israeli news media, many of whom don't do their job adequately. But that is no excuse. The "Application instituting proceedings and request for the indication of provisional measures", brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice is widely available, all 83 pages. In it South Africa does an excellent summing up of numerous statements made by Israeli political and military leaders and compares these with what has been happening on the ground in Gaza since October 7th.You can't say: "We did not know".https://www.icj-cij.org/node/203394 

Jewish history has taught us .. justifiably.. to see ourselves as victims. Unfortunately, the behaviour of Israel since the nakhba has shown that we can also be the victimisers, something that most Jews refuse to accept. No compensation has ever been paid to the Palestinians for their losses; the occupation has encouraged some Israeli-Jews to strive for nothing less than the entire ethnic cleansing of the WB, Gaza and even within Israel itself. 

The Srebrenica precedent seems to me to have lowered the bar for what counts as genocide so far it makes the term almost meaningless. Ironically, Hamas's stated goal is genocide, but I think the Israeli right extremists want ethnic cleansing and most Israelis just want security. On the other hand, whatever one wants to call it, Israel has shown a lack of real concern about civilians casualties that deserves condemnation and I think amounts to a war crime. 

Most Israelis can’t understand the accusations of genocide because they have been totally insensitive and indifferent to the oppression and crimes the Palestinians have been normally suffering for decades right in the backyard. So this did not begin on October 7. The genocide committed against the Palestinian people was predictable considering all the previous massacres and destruction they have been subjected to with absolutely no protection from any source. This is what happens when people are dehumanized something which most Israelis should not have to be reminded of. What’s surprising is that you have completely eliminated this from your article. 

This piece is brilliant, touching, and essential. It doesn’t just deserve a journalism or literary prize, it deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.In “a way” it is not fair that Israel is being charged with genocide. My country, the US, has done far worse in terms of genocide for centuries until the present day. It is also constantly committing new crimes against humanity and unceasingly flouts international law when it serves its purpose. Of course, this is ONE of the most forceful motives for the US to oppose and denigrate the charges against Israel which are quite well grounded in both fact and law.Questions regarding deep connections between victimhood and villainy in every ordinary soul should dominate the arts and anthropology of this new century. We have to face them! 

A meaningful, important account of humankind's inherent nature and the consequences of ignoring the universality of brutal societal behavior. 

This article side steps accountability of Israel and its savagery 

This article is a waste of ink. Of course Israel is guilty. We see it on our TV screens every day. That's why Israel is eliminating journalists (and their families). 

 ReportReply to comment

I disagree. I found it very interesting, and think it should be read as widely as possible, as I suspect there a great many Israelis and pro-Israel supporters in other parts of the world who are ignorant of a lot of the facts in this report. It might also help give them some perspective on events following the 7 October attack, something missing in a good many people. 

It attempts to side step accountability by Israel 

I think you've missed the point. The article is not about whether Israel is or is not guilty, it's about why Israelis are having such trouble understanding that what they are doing is wrong, when the rest of the world can see it quite clearly. 

Israelis are living in a distorted reality. The world is convinced all Israelis are pariahs. That won't change in our lifetime. Well done Israelis, your sense of victimhood was the nail in your own coffin.

There's this legend in some Hasidic circles.... I heard it from the Samborer Rebbe of blessed memory, Hershel Yolles.Auschwitz, c. 1944. One of those only-in-Auschwitz conversations:The SS Guard says to the elderly Hasidic rabbi, by way of an interesting conversation to while away the boredom of concentration-camp life: "How can you claim to the be the Chosen People?! I could break your neck right now--with complete impunity!"The rabbi responds: "I would not trade places with you."[Moment of silence.]But, see, the rabbi was speaking only for himself.For the Jewish people as a whole, anyway a majority of us; not only would we if forced to the choice, gladly trade places with the guard: we are possessed by some deep, understandable, yet lunatic and unforgivable urge to lord it over some other people...in order to regain our sense of being, after the Shoah.What a deep tragedy. What a failure of some supreme test that we might imagine that God has imposed on us. 

The article is excellent.

Once the fighting stops and the Palestinians are granted statehood in Gaza, the WB and East Jerusalem, followed by a formal reconciliation process, it will take a generation for peace to be embedded. This has been demonstrated in Northern Ireland and South Africa.The situation is not unique, the poison and hatred not special, it just needs to be acknowledged and left to wither on the vine to allow the new reality to come through.In peace…

"In 1948, the United Nations Genocide Convention defined genocide as any of five "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group"." from Wikipedia. Jewish law says we are Not to destroy a whole nation and repeat the threats of the ancient Mitzraim to eliminate the Hebrew peoples. The current Likud leadership is using the IDF to destroy 70% of the living structures in Gaza, have forced some 1 million people, half the population into homelessness, the remaining people of Gaza face hunger, disease and lack of medical services; Ben Gvir Knesset MK is threatening to deport the remaining Gazans and colonize Gaza as Jewish Israeli. This is by logical equation genocide; threat of genocide. There are those of Hamas intent on genocide of Israel also, but thank god do Not have that power. Israelis are better to use the court to convict and rid the Likud led Knesset of the perpetuators rather than waiting for the world forum. 

One of the nice things about ChatGPT is that its training is not up to date and that it reflects world speech from before october 7. I asked "Are there known historical facts about wars where the destruction of cemiteries was systematic?"It answered "indeed so and mentioned WWII and the holocaust, as well as the Yugoslaw wars in the 1990" and mentioned the context of ethnic cleansing. It concluded: "These instances represent some of the darker aspects of warfare, where cultural and religious sites, including cemeteries, are intentionally targeted for destruction as a means of eradicating the identity and history of opposing groups. Such actions are widely condemned as war crimes and are often investigated by international organizations in the aftermath of conflicts."So, if anyone had asked GPT before passing to action how certain acts of the war would be perceived by the world, they would have gotten answers. Being surprised just means a complete deconnection of moral categories.
 

There is no "IF". It IS genocide. In 3 months, they've broken ALL genocidal records in history 

"No “records” are being set."Does that matter? Does that make the attacks in Gaza any less odious? 

Excellent points allround! 

The primary reason Israelis "can't understand" why their country might be accused of genocide is that they're unfamiliar with the legal meaning of that term. They need to read the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, readily available on line.Many Jewish people erroneously believe that the word "genocide" encompasses only the very rare situations (e.g., the "Holocaust") where deliberate attempts are made to physically exterminate an entire group of people defined as "other".
A second factor in the inability to understand is the deeply-rooted belief held by many Israelis that the progressive Jewish conquest of pre-WWII Palestine was historically (and to some, divinely) justified and necessary in light of centuries-long persecutions of Jews, especially in Europe. This intense self-justification tends to blind those who engage in it to the sufferings of others. 

You incorrectly assume that the judges of the ICJ have no legal intelligence and/or judgment. However they construe the language of the Convention -- to which Israel voluntarily became a party -- I suspect the decision will be based on proven facts and a rational interpretation and application of the text. It is not in the Court's interest to do anything different, both as a matter of integrity and self-respect, but also because the world will be watching. 

No mention of "A Nation on Trial" by Finkelstein and Birn, which debunked the central thesis of Goldhagen's fraud. 

We in the United States too have been struggling with coming to terms with not enjoying American exceptionalism. We have not been the unadulterated representatives of liberty nor have we always been a shining city upon a hill. Our history also includes what can only be called the genocide of indigenous Americans. We went from slavery to Jim Crow to excessive police force against African-Americans. If the Jewish state does not represent the only oppressed people, people who cannot by definition oppress others, or a uniquely chosen people - or if it can commit ethnic cleansing and genocide - we in the US know how difficult it is to integrate that into an honest self-appraisal. (If you want to see how we used to see ourselves, please take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Progress#/media/File:American_Progress_(John_Gast_painting).jpg . )

Number amount of wordplay, sophistry, etc. can make this genocide not a genocide  

JamesCivil wars, however horrendous, are not genocide. 

Gutmensch: Rwanda? 

How can you describe this as a 'civil war'? It is hardly civil and it is unlikely to classified as war given Hamas barely has an army and definitely has no airforce or navy. 

James Civil War means two sides are citizens of the same country 

For christs sake it’s a DUCK!! 

"'They're trying to kill me,' Yossarian told him calmly.'No one's trying to kill you,' Clevenger cried.'Then why are they shooting at me?' Yossarian asked.'They're shooting at everyone,' Clevenger answered. 'They're trying to kill everyone.''And what difference does that make??'(from Catch-22) 

So are Israelis just that delusional and so caught up in their own narrative of victimhood that they cannot see the incredible brutality they are committing and have committed against the Palestinians for generations? On the evidence, the answer is "yes." Israel is an apartheid state, a decidedly racist entity. But its citizens and supporters have so dehumanized the Palestinians and so brainwashed themselves that they cannot see the obvious point that there is nothing unique about Jews. Any group of people can commit horrific atrocities, given the right conditions. Maybe it's particularly easy for a group that has used its history of victimhood as a shield behind which to shut down opposition and protect itself from criticism. The idea that victims later become victimizers is hardly new. 

The difference between the atrocities of Hamas and of the IDF is that Hamas is an authoritarian organization; hence, the Palestinians have no role or say in what Hamas does. Hamas never conducted any real election after 2006, but the Israeli government has been elected by a majority of the vote in Israel, and a recent poll showed that 75% of all Israeli Jews reject a cease-fire. Another difference is in magnitude and consequences. Hamas committed serious crimes: 1200 killed, women raped, and 230 kidnapped. Compare that to the 20,000 deaths in Gaza, most of whom are women and children, the displacement of 1.9 million civilians, subject to starvation and disease, and the destruction of more than 66% of all buildings (including hospitals and historical sights). According to many international observers, the ultimate toll might reach (by the end of this war) in the hundreds of thousands: Gaza is no longer an inhabitable place. This is more than atrocities; this is a genocidal war. 

Excellent essay. All organizers of genocide claim to be defending the nation against an inhuman—even un-human—enemy. Is retaliation a rationale? Or is it the brink of an icy slope? ("They started it," as my father, a WWII army sergeant, explained Dresden.) There's no alibi for genocide or for reckless disregard of civilian lives in wartime. That's why careful militaries seat lawyers beside drone pilots: to make the call. Israel deserves full credit for standing up to the charge, no matter what the Hague determines. Reference: John Bennett (2019). 'Reaping the Whirlwind...'. MelbJlIntLaw 13; (2019) 20(2). Full text online. 

Just not sure what you mean--do you mean, all genocidaires always claim self-defense? That is true. Do you mean, Israelis should just be proud to be genocidaires? That is odd.Do Israelis avoid knowing about the death and destruction in Gaza? I am not sure if this case of South Africa's might make them have face it more squarely? Let them face some images and figures? It is unprecedented civilian death and unprecedented destruction of homes in modern warfare in such a short amount of time, combined with a blockade of clean drinking water, food, fuel, and medical equipment. The goal was --and still is--to imperil the health and well-being of 2.2 million civilians. That is genocidal, frankly. The trucks are still not coming in in enough numbers and the hospitals and the PRC and UN aid workers are still being attacked. The attacks, death and destruction continue. It has not yet abated. 

“That's why careful militaries seat lawyers beside drone pilots: to make the call”. And who would this be? It sure isn’t the US

Understand that Aharon Barak’s stated purpose all his career has been to provide Israel a cover of Israeli court “justiciableness” over “all matters of the West Bank and Gaza” — and this was frankly stated as a ploy to deflect application of international law. Barak simply decreed by fiat that “all matters of the West Bank and Gaza are justiciable,” and he frankly revealed why—and that “why” had scant legal substance to it, was merely tactical not substantive, and strikingly cynical. Barak’s legal ploy is of course a backbone of an apartheid regime. The hollowness of that ploy is now being tested before the ICJ:Orly NoyAt The Hague, Aharon Barak will play Dr. Jekyll to Israel’s Mr. Hyd https://www.972mag.com/aharon-barak-the-hague-israel-genocide/
 

  Orly Noy: Rather, Barak’s new role actually continues the mission to which he has devoted his entire professional life: legitimizing the majority of Israel’s crimes, while simultaneously defending the façade of “Israeli democracy.” Barak, after all, is one of the most significant authors of the legal doctrine that Israel can claim to be a democracy while maintaining an endless military occupation and systematically depriving the Palestinians of their rights, dignity, land, and property…In Barak’s own words: “All matters of the West Bank and Gaza are justiciable [i.e. can be handled within the Israeli judicial system]. Military affairs in the [occupied] territories are justiciable. Whether to shut off electricity in Gaza — justiciable. Why? Because there is international law. If shutting off electricity in Gaza is not justiciable here, it will be justiciable in The Hague. This is the case in this matter and likewise in the matter of the settlements. 

The ‘mistaken’ killing of three Israeli hostages was a tragedy long foretoldFar from an aberration, the hostages’ deaths are the result of Israel giving its soldiers license to kill innocent Palestinians without repercussions.By Sebastian Ben Daniel (John Brown) January 9, 2024“…A sniper first shot toward them as they emerged — shirtless and waving a white flag — from a building more than 100 yards away, killing Talalka and Shamriz. Haim managed to escape, wounded, to a building nearby, and the soldiers pursued him. After 15 minutes, they convinced Haim to exit the building, promising that nothing will happen to him. When Haim finally came toward the soldiers, one of them executed him…” 

A day before the ICJ hearing, Israel allows 400 food trucks to Gaza. WOW! The Hypocrisy! 

More importantly, can the trucks now bring tents, medicine and anaesthetics? So at least we can anaesthetise the 10 children every day that have their legs amputated because of the idf bombing houses?And will they stop attacking the trucks?They have come back on their promises so many times, I do not believe it until it happens. 

Brava Dahlia- brave and sad and true 

There’s a poll from a year ago in which 63% of Israeli Jews said their victimhood gave them the moral right to do anything to survive. Add to that the dehumanization of the Palestinians, which has been going on since before 1948, and you have a pretty powerful combination. 

It is hard to see this headline, how can anyone not see the genocide - bombing and shooting killing at least ~23,000 now, and the rest of ~2.5 million people starving to death, what one earth is there that is not genocidal? It would be like saying there were not massacres and genocide in Rwanda or Nazi Germany, both of which I have links to, so it is not empty talk 

Absolutely  

Sadly many of the comments below confirm Dahlia Scheindlin's message, namely that all too many cannot conceive themselves as murderers or accessories to murder.None of us, and especially all too many of the authors of the comments here below, are as good a looking in the mirror as we should be.

 

Why me? Why me? Israel will go down in history as Genocide perpetrators 

. 

Very good article by Dahlia Scheindlin, which deserves wide circulation.According to a recent article in the Guardian, many people in Israeli aren’t at all aware of the extent of the number of deaths in the Gaza war -https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/06/journalists-see-their-role-as-helping-to-win-how-israeli-tv-is-covering-gaza-war?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherBut is this really true? Don’t many Israelis watch CNN? Maybe not, but certainly the top Netanyahu Coalition leaders are aware of the number of Gaza deaths and there’s no indication that it bothers them. And so far we haven’t seen any large demonstrations against the large-scale IDF killings in Gaza. But perhaps such demonstrations are forbidden and considered treasonous.And does everyone called up to the IDF go into the army? Or do some silently resist by leaving the country or claim medical reasons to stay out? AT LEADT A few have refused the IDF for reasons of conscience. 

It is time for us as a nation and community to open our eyes to the suffering of others. 

Good oped, thanks to the author for writing this, and to Haaretz for publishing. 

I wonder why the author has left out the last 75 years? 

No one knows what you mean. Please explain. 

As the author made clear (and she gave examples), according to international law, prior attacks, whatever the scale, don't recuse a country of the charge of genocide. 

An excellent article. Many international scholars of genocide have also studied the violent history of European settler colonial societies from Australia to South Africa to the United States. Israel has more in common with "western civilisation" than President Herzog would care to admit. I recommend Sven Lindqvist's remarkable book, Exterminate the Brutes, which explains the debt the German genocide of the 1940s owed to its European predecessors 

I agree with you about everything but the coffin. Thanks to the “great” USA, Israel is above the law. However, the USA won’t last forever.  

1And YOU have. Own it learn from it. The world of the day after is going to be a coldunfriendly place. 

Very intelligent and well documented column,

When nothing is ever your fault it will be impossible to understand why you are being accused of anything. 

By taking the Israel government to court and charging it with genocide, South Africa might, just might, bring about the necessary pause to the unnecessary lunacy of these past three months. . 

My thoughts, change in tone and restreint are visible. 

Brain washing and willful ignorance! 

Browning (I assume that's whom she's quoting) leaves out one small fact about Germany's miraculous postwar "transformation": it was first pounded physically to pieces then occupied and divided by its enemies. Some defeats are toxic (1918) and some are cleansing (1865, 1945). Israel is an odd nation; its victories are as toxic as its defeats.