In an article published in Haaretz newspaper today, Sunday, May 5, 2024, Israeli writer Gideon Levy called for the arrest of Israel’s leaders for war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.
Levy expressed his hope that Israeli leaders would appear before the International Criminal Court for the crimes of murder and destruction in the Gaza Strip, which placed their country in a “major dilemma.”
He described what is happening in Gaza as the “worst disaster” that Israel has ever faced in its history, saying that every “Israeli patriot” and everyone who cares about the state’s interest should hope that its leaders will be tried, considering that this is the only way in which Israel’s moral standards will change.
He said: “The Israelis must ask themselves the following questions: Is their country committing war crimes in Gaza? If so, how should they be stopped? How should the perpetrators be punished? Who can punish them? Is it reasonable for crimes to go without prosecution, and that Are criminals acquitted?
He added that one could of course answer in the negative to the first question, claiming that Israel is not committing any war crimes in Gaza, and thus the rest of the questions become unnecessary.
However, he comments later, saying how can one answer in the negative in the face of the facts and the situation in Gaza: about 35,000 people were killed and 10,000 others are missing, about two-thirds of whom are innocent civilians, according to data from the Israeli army itself.
Among the dead were about 13,000 children, 400 medical workers and more than 200 journalists, while 70% of homes were destroyed or damaged, 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition, and two out of every 10,000 people die every day. Of hunger and disease, according to the author of the article, who indicates that he obtained all these numbers from the United Nations and international organizations.
Levy asserts that killing, destruction, starvation, and displacement on this scale would not have occurred without the commission of war crimes, adding that there are wars whose causes are just and whose means are criminal, but “the justice of war does not justify its crimes,” as he put it.
He said that public diplomacy, or “hasbara” in Hebrew, does not try to deny reality, but rather interprets it in the context of anti-Semitism.
He pointed out that Israel will not prosecute any of its citizens for crimes committed in occupied Palestine, as it has never done so, whether in the wars it fought or during its occupation of the lands. He continued sarcastically: It will prosecute a soldier who stole a Palestinian’s credit card.
However, he believes that it is not easy for a person to wish for his country’s leaders and soldiers to be arrested, and it is even more difficult to accept that publicly.
But he stressed that he does not believe there is another way to prevent them from committing what they are committing. “If it were not for them, Israel would not have transformed – after October 7 – from a state that calls for sympathy to a pariah state.”
He pointed out that many Israelis wish that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be punished for the corruption he was accused of, and they should also hope that he and his followers would be punished for much more serious crimes, which are crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.
In a tone of frustration, Levy believes that it is very unlikely that Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy will appear due to the enormous pressure exerted by the United States and Israel on the International Criminal Court.
