Expulsion fail

Last month, Knesset members from the ruling right-wing religious-nationalist coalition failed to expel far-left colleague Ofer Cassif over his support for an International Court of Justice (ICJ) case charging Israel with genocide in Gaza. Eighty-five of the 120 members voted in favour of his ouster, five votes short of the 90-seat majority required.

A member of the communist Hadash party which has formed a joint list with the left-wing Arab Ta’al party, Cassif was one of the 600 Israelis who published a statement backing the allegations made in South African submission to the ICJ. He posted on social media platform X, “My constitutional duty is to Israeli society and all of its residents, not to a government whose members and its coalition are calling for ethnic cleansing and even actual genocide.”

Cassif said the aim of the vote was “political persecution and silencing of every critical voice in general and of Arab citizens and their representatives in the Knesset in particular.”

Tel Aviv University philosophy lecturer Dr Anat Matar — who is one of the authors of the petition — told The New Arab that she “wanted to show that there is part of Israeli citizens who agree with South Africa’s move.” A veteran campaigner for Palestinian rights, Dr Matar stated, “What I know for sure is that this war must be stopped immediately. Every moment that passes is a crime.” She not only demands the end of the Israeli occupation but also urges young Israelis to refuse to serve in the army.

Another signatory of the letter and anti-occupation activist, Ofer Neiman said that “an overwhelming majority of Israelis still support the war, with one poll showing that around 75 per cent of Israelis reject attempts to de-escalate the military’s attacks on Palestinians.”

Cassif, Matar and Neiman are among the few leftist anti-Zionist Israeli activists who seek a just and fair settlement with the Palestinians.

US campaigners have also taken up the challenge of pressing President Joe Biden, a self-avowed Zionist, to tackle Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who seeks to continue the Gaza war to a pyrrhic Israeli “victory.”

In early January, Americans for Peace Now, a liberal pro-Israel Zionist organisation called for a ceasefire, becoming the first major US group to take this stand. Chairman James Klutznick stated, “Continuing this devastating war poses unacceptable risks for Israel, Gazan civilians and the entire region. For the sake of the security and wellbeing of civilians in Israel and in Gaza, the Biden administration must push Israel to bring about an immediate cessation of hostilities and pivot from war to peacemaking.”

The Times of Israel reported that this signified that support given by loyalist US Jewish groups since Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel has fractured. Until then only anti-Zionist or non-Zionist groups had been critical of Israel’s handling of the Gaza war.

Americans for Peace Now is a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations, the influential umbrella grouping which normally backs Israel unconditionally. But even this broad coalition has begun to call on Israel make a serious effort to protect Palestinian civilians during the Gaza war.

Liberal Zionist lobby group J-Street which adopts a line similar to the stand taken by Americans for Peace Now has cancelled its April conference due to controversies over the war.

Last week, Americans for Peace Now called on the US government to ensure that Israel does not violate the terms of President Joe Biden’s recent memorandum. This requires all countries which receive US security assistance provide Washington with “credible and reliable written assurances that they will comply with international humanitarian law and other appli-cable international law prior to receiving US assistance.”

The organisation expressed the worry that the planned Israeli offensive against Rafah “will exacerbate the ongoing humanitarian crisis, raising concerns about potential civilian casualties and the ability of humanitarian organisations to deliver aid under desperate conditions.” Three Democrat US congressmen sponsored a letter to Biden “opposing a ground invasion of Rafah and urging him to use every available tool to ensure adherence to American and international law during this conflict.”

It is striking that the highly influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has also cancelled its annual conferences since 2020. The original decision to cancel its heavily attended event was taken in 2021 due to covid. Since then, the cancellation has become indefinite. Writing in the Israeli liberal daily Haaretz in May 2023, Leb Stesin said “AIPAC is slowly dying.” Cancelling its policy conferences is, in his view, an “act of self-immolation.” Thousands attended the annual spring gatherings in Washington which were addressed by the high-and-mighty in whatever US administration was in office.

However, in recent years AIPAC, like Israel itself, has been “captured by Netanyahu who tried to follow the dictum of Theodor Herzel, the father of the Jewish state, who commanded the Zionist movement to “capture the communities” in the diaspora to secure power and pelf: influence and money.

Instead of representing the broad sweep of opinion in Israel and the US Jewish community, under Netanyahu AIPAC became the representative of the hard right. Last year, AIPAC did not stand with millions if Israelis to oppose Netanyahu’s drive to weaken Israel’s judiciary. His intention is to deny the only state institution the authority to check the powers of elected officials and to dismiss wrongdoing ministers, like himself. He is under trial for fraud, bribery, and breach of trust. Before the war, Israelis poured into the streets for months to protest Netanyahu’s power grab which, opponents argue, will negate Israeli democracy.

In a bid to stay in power and gain immunity from prosecution, Netanyahu continues to wage Israel’s deadly and devastating Gaza war which has undermined Israel’s global position, moral standing and insistence on impunity despite the war crimes and crimes against humanity it regularly commits. The South African accusation of genocide in its submission to the ICJ is proof positive that Netanyahu and his religious-right coalition have destroyed Israel’s most valuable asset: never being held accountable for its actions.

Photo: TNS