The government of the United Kingdom has officially declared that there is no genocide in Gaza. This is a significant change from the UK’s prior position, which was to defer to the highly politicized International Court of Justice, where South Africa and others are suing Israel, including a request for the Court to change the very definition of “genocide” in order to make it fit Israel.
Photo: British Prime Minister Kier Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy meet with families of hostages, by “Number 10” via Flickr.
What did we do?
We were not the only factor involved in producing this result, but we played a meaningful, even essential role.
For over a year we’ve been coordinating with a number of governments on this issue, including the United States, Israel, EU nations, and the UK. Our work is based on highly detailed, original reports, legal analysis and OSINT research, which together prove that Israel is absolutely not committing anything even remotely close to “genocide.”
One of our most impactful reports involved coordination with America’s Central Intelligence Agency (the CIA) to reveal that Gaza has one of the fastest growing populations in the world, a reality that is completely inconsistent with “genocide” claims. Our report remains highly relevant even today, and we recommend that you read our public summary HERE.
For a televised explanation of some of the relevant international law, you can also take a look at this appearance on i24 News from May 2024, when the ICJ case began. (Click HERE or on the image below)
Photo: Daniel Pomerantz explains the law behind genocide claims at the ICJ on i24 News, May 2024.
We already had some success: our work helped prompt the UK to reverse its accusation of “violations of international law” after Israel temporarily cut humanitarian aid last March, and also to back off its effort to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state last June. (The recognition effort has unfortunately been re-ignited in advance of the United Nations General Assembly meeting this month.) We have also helped ensure continued UK sales of essential military equipment to Israel, in part by our work to defeat Europe’s attempt at cutting off Israeli trade relations.
Why does this matter?
The UK continues to harshly criticize Israel and appears determined to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly meeting this month – not exactly friendly behavior.
Yet at this time, the genocide issue carries significantly more weight – because a hostile decision at the ICJ can lead to serious international sanctions against Israel: not “BDS style” sanctions which are mostly performative, but “North Korea style” sanctions, which could endanger Israel’s very survival.
In addition, the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant could eventually lead to further warrants against IDF soldiers and reservists – in other words: much of Israel’s entire population. These arrest warrants are based on claims closely related to genocide.
As the ICJ and ICC are primarily political bodies in the guise of “courts,” they are strongly influenced by global opinion, irrespective of law, facts or truth. The growing number of nations declaring that Israel is not committing genocide will likely influence ICJ and ICC rulings. Yet even if the these “courts” were to rule against Israel, nations that disagree with the rulings will be unlikely to enforce the sort of arrests and crippling sanctions that can endanger the Jewish state.
Ultimately, this work protects the IDF’s immediate freedom action: to fight toward defeating Hamas and the return of the Israeli hostages.
We are proud to say that Israeli officials frequently (and privately) thank us for helping them with resources they often do not get from their own offices. Foreign governments, including in Europe, continue to demonstrate a surprising degree of openness to our persuasive information, especially in non-public settings.
This is not an easy time for Israel and the Jewish people, and these concrete successes will not, by themselves, end antisemitism or stop the defamation of Israel’s global image. (We’ve written at length about what will be needed to accomplish that at the largest scale.)
However, our work does impact Israel’s immediate safety and survival.
Thank you: for being a part of the RealityCheck community!
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