10 Witty Jewish Responses to Antisemitism
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The International Criminal Court is putting Israelis and its supporters in danger.
The International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrongly slander Israel and its leaders and makes Jews around the world much less safe.
Here are 5 facts about the ICC outrageous actions and why they harm us all.
The ICC was established in 2002 as a court of “last resort” to prosecute crimes in places where there is no national infrastructure to try criminals. Its first case, which was concluded with a guilty verdict in 2012, was against Thomas Lubanga, a militia leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo who was accused and convicted by the court for using child soldiers in combat. Congo, which was embroiled in a bitter civil war at the time, lacked the resources to try him at home; the ICC declared it was doing a service to the entire global community by holding a trial for Lubanga in the Hague in the Netherlands, where the ICC is based. 124 countries have signed up to support the ICC. Many - including the USA, China, India, and Israel - have not, fearing just the sort of biased prosecutions the ICC is now pursuing.
Since 2002, the ICC has issued arrest warrants for 68 people. They read like a rogue’s gallery of some of the most notorious mass murderers of the 21st century, hailing from war-torn nations and repressive dictatorships. Take Iyad Ad Ghaly, an Islamic State leader from Mali; he’s accused of enslaving and mutilating women, torturing civilians and soldiers, targeting non-Muslims, and more. Or Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman: the court accused him of heading the Janjaweed militia, which has killed and enslaved non-Muslims on a massive scale in the Darfur region of Sudan.
According to the ICC, 30 of their suspects remain “at large.” Incredibly, that number now includes both Israel’s democratically elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. To put them in the company of the court’s other suspects - who hail from largely dysfunctional states where there is no working court system to try them - is outrageous. “No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry has declared. .
Asserting that somehow Israel’s leaders belong in the same company as the heads of Islamic State and the Janjaweed gives ammunition to critics of Israel who try to paint Israel as a pariah state. Israel enjoys an independent judiciary and a vibrant, multi-party democracy. In issuing arrest warrants for two Israeli leaders, including its elected Prime Minister, the ICC is falsely asserting that Israel is a rogue state and unable to uphold the rule of law.
The ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant are a major win for Hamas, which celebrated the Court’s move.
Hamas is now recognized as the official ruler of the State of Palestine. You read that right. Israel might not be a signatory to the ICC, but Palestine is. The “State of Palestine” became a member of the ICC’s establishing statute in 2015. Back then, the ICC officially recognized the Palestinian Authority as the official governing body of “Palestine.” But back in 2023, the Court changed tack and ruled that Hamas is a legitimate ruler of “Palestine” and thus has standing to bring a legal case against Israel to the ICC, which set into motion the ICC’s investigation.
This is the same Hamas which declares in its Charter: “Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.” That describes the entirety of Israel, plus the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas’ Charter also declares that “Palestine is an Arab Islamic land;” that the “Judaization” of Jerusalem is “fundamentally null and void;” that “the Zionist project” (it does not use the word Israel) “is the enemy of the Arab and Islamic global community posing a grave threat to its security and interests;” and that the “Zionist project” poses “a danger to international security and peace and to mankind.”
(Some Hamas defenders point out that the terror group replaced its original antisemitic 1988 Charter with a much more reasonable version in 2017; the above quotes are from the new 2017 Hamas Charter.)
No wonder Hamas celebrated the ICC’s arrest warrants, holding parties in Gaza and issuing press statements praising the Court. This move strengthens Hamas prestige worldwide, spreading their odious message of anti-Israel hatred globally. Hamas is now calling for all of Israel’s leaders to be charged with crimes against humanity by the ICC; clearly, they view the ICC as their newest ally in their struggle against Israel.
On November 21, 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for three supposed criminals, accusing them of alleged crimes against humanity that took place in the State of Palestine. Two warrants were for Netanyahu and Gallant. The third warrant was a non-warrant: it’s for Mohammed Deif, a Hamas official who helped plan Hamas’ October 7, 2023 terror attack in Israel - and who was killed by Israel forces in August 2024. Since Hamas hasn’t officially concurred with Israeli announcements about Deif’s death, the ICC has maintained the fiction that Deif is alive - and named his as the sole Hamas defendant accused of crimes in the case stemming from the current Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza.
Issuing arrest warrants for two Israelis - including Israel’s Prime Minister - and one deceased Hamas official sends the not-so-subtle message that Israel is on par with terrorist leaders. This emboldens anti-Israel activists around the world, feeding their hatred of the Jewish state and its defenders.
The ICC has charged Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant of the following crimes: “starvation as a method of warfare;” “the crime against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts;” and “directing an attack against the civilian population” in “Palestine.”
I’m not sure what the “other inhumane acts” that the Court refers to might be, but the charges that Israel is deliberately starving Gaza civilians or directing attacks on civilian targets not military ones have been comprehensively debunked.
Regarding food aid, contrary to the many slurs and lies against Israel by partisan sources, Israel places no limit on food aid entering Gaza. One comprehensive study found that food aid equivalent to over 3,000 calories per day for every single man, woman and child in Gaza has entered Gaza regularly, even while the ICC investigated Israel for supposedly banning food aid.
The accusation that Israel’s defensive war against Hamas is “murder” and prioritizing civilian rather than military targets is similarly baseless. As long ago as 2008 a major NATO study found that Hamas was guilty of committing “the war crime of using human shields encompass(ing) ‘utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas, or military forces immune from military operations.’ Hamas has launched rockets, positioned military-related infrastructure-hubs and routes, and engaged the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from, or in proximity to, residential and commercial areas.” Hamas, NATO concluded, is using the entire civilian population of Gaza as “human shields.” Former Hamas head Yahya Sinwar boasted during the current war that high civilian death tolls in Gaza benefited Hamas by swaying global opinion against Israel.
Tellingly, the ICC arrest warrant against Mohammed Deif only mentions his actions during the October 7, 2023 attack; Hamas’ continued lobbing of thousands of missiles into civilian centers in Israel in the eleven-plus months since then is studiously ignored in the charges.
Tragically, the ICC has now proved that Hamas’ cynical strategy works: by embedding their fighters among civilians and forcing civilians to remain in war zones, Hamas has persuaded the world’s highest Court to blame Israel, not Hamas, for the deaths of Hamas’ human shields.
This has real world consequences. Jews who were beaten by mobs in Amsterdam following a November 7 football game there describe attackers shouting “Jews, IDF” as they pursued and beat up Jews and Israelis. By baselessly claiming that Israel’s leaders are committing crimes against humanity, the ICC is further inflaming anti-Israel sentiments around the world and putting Jews and Israelis in danger.
The ICC doesn’t have any police force of its own; the only way it can arrest people is by asking the Court’s members to do so for them.
In the days since the ICC’s shameful arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were issued, two countries - the United States and Hungary - have publicly declared they regard the ICC’s warrants as bogus and will not enforce them. US President Biden declared: “The ICC issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous. Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence - none - between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Yet other countries’ leaders - including nations that are ostensibly allies of Israel - all but fell over themselves to declare that they couldn’t wait to arrest Israel’s leaders if they got the chance. “Yes absolutely. We support international courts and we apply their warrants,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris told a radio station soon after the ICC’s warrants were issued. Leaders of Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Britain, Lithuania, South Africa, Turkey, Jordan, Norway, Sweden, and Slovenia have rushed to affirm that they will arrest Israel’s leaders if they ever step foot in their countries. As signatories to the ICC’s Charter, these nations would have the power to then turn Israel’s Prime Minister and former Defense Minister over to the ICC for imprisonment and trial.
The fact that Israel’s democratically elected Prime Minister can no longer travel to most of the world - including nations with which Israel has trade, defense and other agreements - is a terrible blow to Israel and to its supporters everywhere.
A recent survey found that a significant majority of young people in the USA view Israel negatively. In Britain, most young people feel that Israel should not exist. In the face of so much hate, Israelis and Zionists are already in danger. The ICC’s outrageous arrest warrants against Israel’s leaders are wrong-headed and immoral. They promise to do even more damage to Israel’s reputation and encourage even more animosity towards Israel and to Jews.
No one should pay heed to this kangaroo court.
I am horrified that Canada, my country, is supporting these outrageous and unwarranted arrest warrants.
Good article
Israel has been defending its right to exist for thousands of years. It is surrounded by emenies both real and potential. Terrorist groups are overwhelminly Islamic. (This is not a judgement on the Islamic faith, simply a statement of fact.) It is being forced to defend itslef on several fronts. Given this and much more, it is hardly surpising that Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant want to see aan actual end to the threat by destroying not Gaza but Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Read the charter of Hamas, and not the revised one that appears to be somewhat softer and likely for political reasons.
The ICC should be shut down - it is clearly not a court of real justice. I am embarrassed and ashamed to live in South Africa - the country that took this case to the ICC. The world needs to know the truth - share this article far and wide.
This disgusts me to no end! The fact that hatred of the Jewish people has become so fashionable once more absolutely blows my mind! Never in my life living openly as a Jew did I think I or my people could be rounded up and exterminated just like in Nazi Germany. All I have to say is this, Rav Kahane was right!
I remember learning in Jewish History how they railroaded( unjustly accused Alfred Dreyus of a crime of spying)he didn't to it he ended up on Devil's Island and theorde Herzl said ' Jews need their own country" Herzl was a journalist and with time there was a man that saw injustice named Emil Zola wrote a book " J -accuse" and then the whole truth came out what really happened then, so now we need once again a mensch like Emil Zola to dig out the truth, who should really stand for war crimes not Israel but the other side, and Am Yisrael Chai and according to Judaism the truth always comes out in the end
We live in a up side down world in reality Iran and their terrorist proxies should be brought to justice, this move is pure anti semitism and anti zionism/ Israel, they would not do this to another country trying to protect themselves and their citizens, if they did this to valmir Putin he has a way to make his enemies disappear, I think people know his methods, but Israel should do what they do in other courts counter suit, that Iran and their terrorist proxies started the progrom/ massacre on 10/ 07/ 23 and Israel is only acting in self defense, and protecting their citizens, ask the countries that are accusing Israeli leaders of crimes ask these countries a question what would do if your country was attacked like Israel was
Am Yisrael Chai.Can I make it any clearer?
Right, and Amen
ICC MUST NOT PLAY G-D !
That's the problem,they are,and most of the world allowe it to do so.
They are scared to stand up to their Muslim populations, and they will have real problems in the end, if they don't stand up for Israel, the only country not scared of Muslims, Israel represents western values and Judeo- Christian religions it is sad the European countries see the real truth Israel is the hero here not the other side is the real war criminals here
שלום אלכים
תודה רבה
Right, if they do it would not end good for them
שלום אלכים
תודה רבה
Thank you for this important piece!
As a British Christian who stands with Israel, this is a despicable action again PM Netanyahu, as is the stance of the UK government in not condemning it.
It doesn't matter what they say it only matters what "We" say SG MM 2610
The ICC's unprecedented and unjust arrest orders against Netanyahu and Gallant eerily parallel Israel’s recent actions against Torah students, who now face unprecedented and unjust arrests for avoiding draft orders as conscientious objectors, while no similar edict targets the large percentage of secular draft evaders or the Israeli Arab community, which is exempt from service altogether. Gallant, a staunch supporter of these measures, now finds himself subject to similar bias from an international court. This parallel between the ICC's overreach and that of the Israeli Supreme Court’s selective enforcement hints to divine providence—what goes around comes around. Both cases reveal the perils of judicial power being wielded unjustly.
G-d gave us Eretz Israel. All Jews should serve in the IDF. It's terribly unfair for some of the religious community to say...you go ahead and defend the country while we stay and pray. It's gone on for way too long.
Remember our great Prophet Nechemia who held a sword in one hand and the Torah in the other.
As far as the Arabs, some do serve and Druze serve and Bedouins serve.
Not all Arabs can be trusted! What to do with them?? Do you really think "Israeli Arabs" who call themselves "Palestinian" can serve in the IDF??
Those secularJews who dodge the IDF have a choice. Serve or spend those army years in jail.
That said
To compare the ICC warrant for Gallant to his demand for draft service in the IDF for the religious community who Live in Israel is as irrational as it is hateful.
Whatever we do,we'll be aqused of wrong doing.It's allways been like that check the world history.
People who are objectors of conscience and do not participate in the war effort to protect our borders under the pretense that they study Torah when the Talmud states clearly that when Israel is in danger the bride under the chuppah should join the war effort, is a despicable attempt to use Torah to legitimize an unacceptable attitude. Enough is enough, its always the same people giving their blood and losing their children to defend the Jewish people while some others sit down in peace with their children which they educate to do the same and push away with both hands their own brothers and sisters. Somehow, they have the time to yell and throw trash on Shabbos at cars passing through the streets but to help their brothers actively G.d forbid… it’s bitul Torah!!! Give me a break!
What's broken is your simplistic, 1-sided view of a complex situation!
As always, we need both good soldiers and Torah learners to have a solid defense system in place.
It's easy enough to understand the role of the former (the IDF in this case) but I'll summarize the latter by saying that without Torah learning, chalilah, there is no Israel, nor a justifiable claim to the land.
(Which of course is not to say that Yishmael's descendants have any right to it at all!)
If you doubt the veracity of this, just ask a religious soldier.
Soldiers can be and actually should be learned in Torah
One does not preclude the other nor should it.
If religious people live in Israel, they should not be excluded from IDF service as there are many areas of services to contribute.
By the way
Many "secularJews" also pray.
And there is nothing complex about draft dodgers no matter which side of the isle.
In ancient Israel I read that soldiers were divided in three and one learned torah one soldier fought and one prepared food for all of them, so why can't they do the same system in Israel today, also there us Hesder Yeshivas these religious men go to learn torah half the time and the other half they are in IDF as a soldier, what is wrong with this system, if very religious men want to learn torah they should do national service instead, also they can belong to Zaka, Hatzolah, MDA that won't interfere with learning torah, it would be a mitzvah to do, when I once was in Gush HaZion in the Judean Hills in Moshav Elizar the men carried big guns to protect themselves, also a man from the moshav used to be in the American Army and had a dog there that would bark a lot when he smelled a enemy
This is not a one-sided opinion. I served in a combat unit for many years, and I’ve seen firsthand that soldiers can be both devoted to Torah and filled with a profound sense of brotherly love. They are willing to leave their wives, children, yeshiva, or kollel and sacrifice their lives to protect others. I’ve also lived in a religious neighborhood where draft dodgers used their time to disgracefully attack their fellow Jews, staging protests in the streets and burning trash bins to oppose a government that grants them rights while demanding no corresponding duties. This perspective isn’t based on bias but on real-life experiences from both sides of the issue. So, please spare me the self-righteousness and the assumption that I misunderstand the problem.
I agree with you, in anicent Israel you had to do something for your land, at least go to national service, or join Zaka, Hatzolah, MDA to help out Israel in the worst times also some religious men can feed the soldiers which also helps the soldiers, and Rabbis should lift the soldiers spiritz and pray and say Psalms for soldiers, just do something to help don't act selfish, like a Rabbi's wive asked a Rabbi what should I do the Rabbi said " be a mensch( be a decent human being) which is also important when learning torah, to me being a mensch is just as important like learning torah
You're using the best case from one side vs. the worst from the other, and you claim to be unbiased?!
Of course, only credit goes to the former and the latter are scoundrels who consider themselves religious but act disgracefully.
Too simply stated, a valid reason that Torah students can't serve in the IDF (as opposed, let's say, to the US army) is that those who run it unfortunately have an anti-Torah agenda, which so far only the hesder yeshivah units & Chabad have mostly successfully managed to circumvent.
I've touched only the tip of the iceberg, but if you don't believe that dedicated Torah learners serve a crucial function in protecting our right to be here, then it's pointless to continue this discussion.
May Hashem protect our soldiers, and our people everywhere.
I also served in the army (needless to say that I was not religious back then) and I saw first hand what happens to religious soldiers when they served together with the secular soldiers.Not a pretty sight.
The Israeli army is the ultimate melting pot. It educates soldiers on the values of zionism, also when it contradicts the Torah. I guess you heard about the religious soldier who was killed in combat and his parents had to go to the press in order for the army to agree to have "HY'D" on the gravestone. Something as simple as these 3 letters! because it was not in accordance with the values of the army.
in addition, Do you see one religious commender in the high ranks? you would think you would find a few of them, considering how many religious soldiers there are in the army. Why did they not promote commander Vinter, for example? Why are all of the high ranking commanders from the left and are secular? So, it's ok for the army to have religious men as simple soldiers to risk their lives, but to have them in high ranks where they can have an impact on policies and on the values that the army agrees to promote - forget about it.
Yehonatan, we are in a culture war. Even if the army agrees to all conditions posed by haredi rabbis, there's not a chance that the army will stick to these agreements with the first baga"zt that a random left wing organization will submit (on what? especially gender segregation, or other "primitive" / "fanatic" values) . This happened before.
There are many religious soldiers in Israel and this includes from Chabad.
We are losing many soldiers, May HaShem protect them
Amen
Just to add to my previous comment:
There are religious units of soldiers within the IDF and these religious soldiers, units from Chabad as well, are also among the bravest of our giborim.
And of these soldiers, many have fallen.
May All Their Memories Forever Be Blessed
Amen
Sadly, some of the negativity directed toward the haredim in these discussions mirrors the kind of venomous antisemitism that has been historically used to divide and harm the Jewish people. When criticism crosses over into dehumanizing or condemning others for their differences, it echoes the harmful rhetoric used by those who seek to divide us. It’s vital that we recognize the diversity within our own community and avoid repeating patterns of exclusion and intolerance. By understanding and respecting these differences, even when we disagree, we foster a more inclusive environment, both within the Jewish community and beyond.
I am not against haredim they belong to zaka, and hatzloh that help people, some haredim are against other haredim that go to ultra orthodox IDF units, I heard children and others are disrespectful to any type of IDF soldiers, these soldiers risk their lives and limbs, for the land of Israel and the people of Israel, I read recently when a religious person asked a non religious taxi driver from Israel who is your rabbi he said" Hitler( may his name be erased) is" the reason is Hitler( may his name be erased) did not care if you was religious or not or thought you are not Jewish anymore, somerimes haredim look down on others, and also different types of Jews don't like each other from different countries, Sephardic vs Ashkenzi, some from Germany and a Hassid, Jews are still in exile
Jews are still in exile for the sin of hatred for no reason, after the Holocaust and other tragedies against the Jewish people, Jews don't seem to get along with each other, the second temple was destroyed for this reason, and till this day the Jews didn't remedy this fact, that is why our enemies attack us there is no peace between brothers and sisters, if we learn to love each other, then we will redeemed from exile, and the moshiach will come soon
Also some haredim do kiruv, and help other Jews become religious
The whole world is against Israel.
Only Militancy will save Israel and Judaism now.
Or perhaps, Hashem?
Indeed, this ICC—Idiotic / Ignoble Condemnation Case—reveals the so-called international court for what it is: a farce!
Their ridiculous, bigoted charge has proven their unworthiness to judge.
When Hashem's purpose is served (and Uri's comment may well reveal a great part of it), we will emerge above the despicable lies they try to spread among those who are as hateful as they are – just as has always happened throughout our history.
Haman in the end hang on the tree which he had built for Mordechai...🕊👑🕊
Right
Isn't a farce a kangroo court
This case is based on anti semitism and anti zionism/ Israel, a long time ago there was a farce trial of Alfred Dreyus he got railroaded( he was unjustly accused) of spying for a enemy he didn't do it someone else did it, and ended up on Devils Island and Theord Herzel was a journalist that was at the farce of a trial and said " Jews need their own country" then someone named Emil Zola wrote about the case in the book J'accuse, and that helped the Dreyfus Affair case, the Dreyfus Affair also had to do with anti semitism, so once again Jews and Israel are railroaded again
Militancy inspired by HaShem.
My opinion you need both a army and Hashem to protect Jews and Israel
The everlasting CREATOR G'D who redeemed ISRAEL and saved her for thousands of years - HE WILL SAVE HER and JUDGE THE WORLD! Read the prophets! So far everything they said came true. The remaining prophecies will also come true! Amen!
That doesn't mean being passive and fatalistic though.
Nothing's going to happen if we don't make it happen.
Right, and amen
God helps those who help themselves.
Militancy, stridently defending and promoting Jewish Identity, Judaism and Israel is the only way forward.
Never back down.
Never apologise.
Always face down the bullies and the anti-semites.
Militancy is the only way forward.
We must be militarily superior and Learned in Torah. One supports the other, and must be intertwined.
Right