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Why Does Amnesty International Have Relevance for Views on Israel?
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard, Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director Philip Luther and activist Orly Noy attend a press conference to announce the Amnesty International’s 211-page report named “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity” at the St George Hotel, in eastern Jerusalem, February 1, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
On December 5, Amnesty International released a report accusing Israel of genocide. It begins with the Genocide Convention, then uses alleged evidence from hundreds of eye witnesses, satellite images, and statements of Israeli leaders in an attempt to prove that what Israel is doing meets the definition of genocide that the Geneva Convention spells out.
Many of Israel’s supporters are criticizing the content of the report, and Amnesty’s dismissal of Hamas’ responsibility for any of the tragedy that has unfolded in Gaza. But here’s a question that hasn’t been asked: Isn’t this a duplication of the exact work the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is supposed to be doing in the case brought against Israel by South Africa? All the rulings last winter and spring were preliminary, for the sole purpose of imposing temporary measures aimed at stabilizing the situation. In October, South Africa submitted its evidence of “genocide, “and now Israel has until next July 28 to reply.
So why did Amnesty release what is essentially its own opinion on how the ICJ should rule? One possibility is that they are so anxious to ratchet up political pressure on Israel, that they can’t wait for the ICJ. Or maybe they are afraid the ICJ will find Israel not guilty, and want to get their two cents in first. Or is their report an attempt to influence the final decision of the ICJ, laying out a roadmap for the ICJ to come to a guilty verdict?
However you cut it, it’s not good. Due process of law is a basic human right. This means that criminal guilt can only be decided by a fair and impartial court, not citizens, no matter how knowledgeable or fair they claim to be. So if an individual is accused of a crime, for some non-government organization to leap up and tell the world, “No need for a judge, Israel is guilty,” is wrong and a violation of the defendant’s rights. What’s true for an individual should also be true for a country.
The ICJ is already biased enough — as its own judges have pointed out. It’s highly likely they will find Israel falsely guilty of the absurd accusation of genocide. Yet that’s still not enough for Amnesty International.
The justice system, whether local or at the ICJ, is frustrating. It takes a long time, and it means you have to listen respectfully while people you think are lying make their case. But courts that are obligated to hear evidence from both sides are the only credible path towards justice. Israel has cooperated fully with the genocide case at the ICJ, and is now compiling its rebuttal of South Africa’s proof. Israel is entitled to present its evidence and have it considered by the judges. Amnesty, on the other hand, is accountable to no one. It can seek evidence from only whatever sources it chooses and disregard anything it dislikes.
If some individual was accused of a heinous crime, then arrested and brought to court, Amnesty would (I hope) tell whatever mob of angry, bloodthirsty citizen that might surround the courthouse that they cannot take justice into their own hands. By jumping in here and announcing their own conclusion that Israel is guilty, Amnesty is in effect joining and fueling the mob.
If Amnesty released this report now because they are afraid the ICJ may eventually decide in Israel’s favor, it’s even worse. Amnesty and other human rights organizations have been trumpeting the ICJ advisory opinion on the occupation and the interim measures it imposed in the genocide case as legitimizing their stance against Israel, saying the wonderful and impartial ICJ endorsed their view. It’s sheer hypocrisy to turn to the ICJ for validation, but then attempt to usurp its role and delegitimize it as soon as there is any fear its rulings may not be in line with what they want.
If this report is an attempt to lay out a roadmap for the ICJ to reach a guilty verdict and pressure it in that direction, that’s obviously wrong. Any judicial process is predicated on judges being able to reach an independent decision based on the evidence they are presented without influence or intimidation from outside sources
Amnesty is entitled to point out what it sees as humanitarian violations by Israel and to express its views on the conflict. But this report is yet another example of unaccountable, unelected human rights NGOs trampling on rights in their zest to fight for a popular cause. It hurts Israel, and it also undermines the entire human rights movement in the process. Amnesty should be ashamed.
Shlomo Levin is the author of the Human Rights Haggadah, and he writes about legal developments related to human rights issues of interest to the Jewish community. You can find him at https://hrhaggadah.com/.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
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