Three Positive Developments in Israel's Information War Against its Enemies
January 28, 2023 - Issue #41
Over the last several days, three things happened that collectively may take some of the wind out of Israel haters’ sails:
The International (supposed) Court of Justice issued a ruling which was better than I expected given the bias it has displayed towards Israel in the past and the countries its judges come from.
The United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) fired nine of its workers based on evidence provided by Israel that at least twelve of its employees were intimately involved with aiding Hamas on October 7 (one other is dead and two are still being identified).
Some Gazan rhetoric turned on Hamas, demonstrating their understanding that Hamas is the true cause of their plight.
I will briefly explore each of these developments below.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) Ruling
Four weeks after a Hamas delegation arrived in South Africa to attend a convention in solidarity with Palestine, South Africa filed a petition with the ICJ alleging that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Therefore, South Africa requested the ICJ to immediately order Israel, among other things:
To stop fighting with Hamas in Gaza (meaning a permanent ceasefire and a defeat for Israel).
Take all reasonable measures within its power to prevent genocide.
Do nothing to impede humanitarian assistance entering Gaza.
Do nothing to destroy Palestinian life in Gaza without making any exception for members of Hamas.
File a report within one week outlining the actions it has taken in furtherance of the ICJ’s order.
Longer term, after an evidentiary process that could take years, South Africa asked for a finding that Israel has committed genocide.
The ICJ refused the most damaging of South Africa’s requests, dashing hopes of many that they would have a new weapon to club Israel with.
Instead, the ICJ’s Order, issued January 26, did not order Israel to stop its war against Hamas and withdraw from Israel, but it did insist that Hamas and the other terrorists in Gaza immediately release the hostages they continue to hold.
This likely comes as a huge disappointment to Israel’s enemies. Nevertheless, they have attempted to save face by focusing on other aspects of the order, such as:
The ICJ denied Israel’s request to dismiss the petition.
Israel must “take all measures” to avoid acts that violate the genocide convention.
Israel must “take all measures within its power” to prevent and punish public incitement to commit genocide.
Israel must facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel must preserve evidence related to allegations of genocide.
Israel must provide a report to the court within one month of measures taken to abide by the ICJ’s order.
Of course, except for providing a report to the ICJ, Israel is already doing what the ICJ is mandating. Thus those provisions are relatively meaningless other than to give false grist for Israel’s detractors and a basis for the court to monitor Israel’s ongoing actions—which could prove problematic in the future should the winds of politics and lies impact the ICJ at a later date.
In fact, and of importance, the court made clear that terrible events alone, including the death of thousands of civilians, is not enough to support a claim of genocide. In addition, the ICJ made clear there must be an “intent to destroy at least a substantial part of the particular group.” Therefore, despite the court saying in very artful and ambiguous language that can be interpreted in may ways “at least some of the acts and omission alleged … appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the convention,” the ICJ clearly did not see anything that required a provisional order for Israel to stop fighting. Thus, for now, there is no international legal basis for preventing Israel from continuing the fight until Hamas is destroyed. That is a huge arrow taken from Hamas’ supporters quiver.
Am I unhappy with the ruling? Of course.
The ICJ Order contained no mention that Hamas is hiding behind the civilian population, the incredible difficulty of fighting in an urban environment laced with tunnels, and Israel’s significant and ongoing efforts to move the civilian population out of harm’s way. Nor does the decision mention the one certain method through which Gaza’s civilian population would receive immediate relief—Hamas’ surrender. Furthermore, it cites statistics and information from sources that are not neutral. And, of course, South Africa’s petition, which has more of a political genesis than a true humanitarian one, should have been dismissed. It is simply outrageous based on the facts and international previous practice and actions to argue that Israel, composed of a citizenry more aggrieved than any other group as historical victims of genocide not to mention Hamas’ genocidal actions on October 7, to now be the perpetrators of that. However, that is how those that hate Jews operate—for effect they repeatedly call Israel a Nazi state and a perpetrator of genocide.
But I am relieved.
The ICJ’s provisional order contained nothing that Israel is not already doing. Yes, there will be a legal battle that will go on for years, but meanwhile Israel will be free to deal with Hamas. And despite the ICJ’s willingness to conduct an ongoing evidentiary investigation, it now saw nothing that prompted it to order an end to what Israel is doing. That is not a victory for Israel’s haters.
The Complicity of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNWRA)
Before I go further, let’s make sure that we all understand what UNWRA is.
Part of what the United Nations does is help refugees. However, for reasons that we do not have time to go into here, the United Nations decided to create UNWRA to deal exclusively with Palestinian refugees and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to deal with all other refugees in the world. UNHCR has successfully solved or alleviated many of the world’s refugee problems. UNWRA has failed to solve the Palestinian refugee problem. Rather it has enlarged it and activated it.
Initially, UNWRA defined refugees under it jurisdiction as “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948.” However, in 1965 UNWRA greatly expanded eligibility requirements. Now, it included all descendants of those people up to the third generation—meaning grandchildren of people who lived in Palestine from 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 were now eligible. Not satisfied with the far larger number of people now eligible for UNWRA’s services that include humanitarian aid and schools that incite hatred for Israel, in 1982 UNWRA further broadened the class of those eligible. Now, all descendants of Palestine of refugee males could claim refugee status, even those who were adopted or who had become citizens elsewhere. This is a perversion of what the refugee system was meant to be. As a result, while UNHCR has succeeded in resettling millions of refugees and lessening the problem, under UNWRA it only grows. Blessed with 30,000 personnel (many coming from the so-called refugees themselves) and a 1.2 billion dollar budget, UNWRA now services 5.9 million so-called Palestinian refugees, shockingly up from the seven hundred thousand Palestinian refugees in the late 1940’s, almost all of which have now died. Think about that for a moment. Today there are eight-and- a-half times the number of refugees than in 1948, and most of them never lived in Palestine!
However, it is not just the burgeoning numbers that UNWRA serves that is the problem, but also its political, educational, and physical involvement on behalf of Hamas in Gaza and the PA in the West Bank. Through its efforts, Palestinian children are taught to hate, lies are spread, and in some cases terrorists focused on killing Israelis have received support. These facts have been known for years and Israel has tirelessly pointed them out to the United Nations to no avail. In fact, after October 7, according to one news report, on a telegram channel used by 3,000 UNWRA teachers in Gaza, some wrote in support of Hamas’s massacre and called those perpetrators “heroes,” and shared images of “dead or captured Israelis and called for the execution of hostages.”
But now something new has happened.
At least twelve members of UNWRA were literally caught in the act. One purportedly held captive one Israeli hostage. Israel turned over information to UNWRA’s leadership identifying them and proving their involvement in Hamas’ terror actions on October 7. The information also included evidence that some UNWRA vehicles and locations were use to aid Hamas’ assault. While all the details have not yet been made public, they were damning enough that UNWRA’s Commissioner-General, Phillipe Lazzarini fired nine and is investigating two others (the twelfth is dead). The information was so damning that the United States and nine other nations (Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, Finland, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Netherlands, and Austria) temporarily terminated their funding of UNWRA pending an investigation.
Thus, it is becoming abundantly clear to many in the international community that UNWRA is part of the problem, not the solution. Hopefully, there will be a growing impetus to create a new organization to aid those Palestinians in need.
Gazans turning on Hamas
Admittedly, it is way too soon to claim that most Gazan citizens have reversed their allegiance to Hamas. Nevertheless, there is now some anecdotal evidence that a few Gazans are voicing their unhappiness with Hamas. One video I saw depicts a large group of Gazans chanting, “The people want to topple Hamas.” Palestinian media contains reports of other Gazans complaining about Hamas, including statements such as “they take most of the aid, and only small amounts reach the distribution centers.”
Will this ripple of dissatisfaction become a wave? Who knows. But after the 2006 confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah, many in Lebanon were angry with Hezbollah for provoking that war. That is still an issue today within Lebanon. The truth is, civilians don’t like getting their homes blown up, their infrastructure destroyed, and seeing their children suffer on behalf of someone else’s Jihadist causes.
In Summary
Does the ICJ’s refusal to order Israel to stop fighting Hamas, UNWRA’s firing of employees for supporting Hamas and the reduction in funding it is now experiencing because its hands were caught in the terrorists’ cookie jar, and some Gazan dissatisfaction with Hamas mean that the tide is turning in Israel’s information war? Absolutely not. The cards are stacked way too high against Israel to even think of choreographing a victory dance. Yet, all three events suggest that all is not lost either. The outcome at the ICJ came through vigorous Israeli advocacy. The revelations about UNWRA came through vigorous Israeli intelligence investigations, and the first expressions of discontent for Hamas by Gazans demonstrates that those that state Israel’s efforts only serve to create more terrorists may not be as correct as they think they are.
We will see. This information war has a long way to go. And all is not lost—especially if we soldier on.
ISW Israel-Hamas War Update—January 28, 2024
Oct. 7 2023, Hamas Massacre: Documentation of Crimes Against Humanity—This could be the most important link in all the newsletters I have written. Here, in extremely graphic detail, is a compilation of the public videos and images from the nightmare of October 7. I forced myself to look at many to remind myself of the depravity of the enemies that Israel faces. Anyone that doubts the justice of what Israel is doing to defend themselves should look on these pages what Israelis endured. So too, should all of us on a regular basis. Fighting the information war that we all face is an exhausting and endless task. Unfortunately, human nature, even for the most ardent of us, makes doing so difficult. Our enemies count on that. Constant reminders of the need to do so is a partial antidote. It can provide the energy to carry on—at least it does for me.
Documenting the Enablers of Hamas War Crimes: UN Agencies, Government Aid Programs and NGOs—Written by Prof. Gerald Steinberg for the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies—January 21, 2024
In Central Gaza, Where Gunmen Lurk underground, a Commander Sees a Long Slog Ahead—Written by Lazar Berman for Times of Israel—January 18, 2024
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Source: X.
UN spokesman clarifies claim global body unaware of Hamas tunnels—Written by Mike Wagenheim for the Jewish News Syndicate—January 21, 2024
100 Days of Reserve Duty Have Officially Ended. Some Initial Insights:—Written by a guest writer for the Alma Research and Education Center—January 21, 2024.
Oct. 7 Was Worse Than a Terror Attack. It Was a Pogrom: ‘Let me know of one Palestinian in Gaza who tried to save a Jew and maybe I’ll change my mind’—Written by Deborah Danon for Tablet—January 24, 2024.
Will Hamas win if it gets a deal for months of ‘pause’ in fighting? - Analysis—Written by Seth J. Frantzman for the Jerusalem Post—January 28, 2024
Israel’s Struggle with Hezbollah—A War Without End is now available in eBook and hardback format on Amazon and IngramSpark. This compelling narrative explores Hezbollah’s origins and cancerous growth, traces Israel’s response, and reveals Israel’s present readiness to meet Hezbollah’s challenge.
Cliff Sobin
Important Link—Alma Research and Education Center: Understanding the Security Challenges on Israel’s Northern Border
Thank you for such a clear, detailed and straightforward analysis. A bit of signal amidst the noise is much appreciated.