Israel’s Far Right Challenges Biden, Slams US Policy on Gaza

Joe Biden with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during the US President’s solidarity visit to Israel on October 18 (dpa)
Joe Biden with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during the US President’s solidarity visit to Israel on October 18 (dpa)
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Israel’s Far Right Challenges Biden, Slams US Policy on Gaza

Joe Biden with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during the US President’s solidarity visit to Israel on October 18 (dpa)
Joe Biden with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during the US President’s solidarity visit to Israel on October 18 (dpa)

The Israeli right wing and far-right parties of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are not satisfied with the economic, military and economic support offered by the US administration of President Joe Biden for Israel.
On Friday, those parties slammed the US policy on Gaza and said Washington is “trying to impose dictates on the Israeli government.” They also accused the Biden administration of seeking to drive the Israelis to suicide by establishing a Palestinian state, and trying to prevent them from paying the price for a Hamas massacre against the people of Gaza.
The far right is telling Washington that Israel now has a rare opportunity. “With our soldiers proudly returning to our positions in the south, we must return fully, sovereignly and morally, to Gaza,” according to Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katsover, the founders of Sovereignty Movement, Ribonut, and members of the Otzma Yehudit party of Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.
Matar and Katsover, famous for their violent settler protests 30 years ago, wrote that “a thousand Israeli flags should now be raised at key positions in the Gaza Strip, alongside the flags heroically raised by our soldiers working there.”
No to Foreign Intervention
Also, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed his dissatisfaction with the US policy on Gaza. He said that Israel is “an independent state that governs itself, knows its interests, and does not like friends to interfere in our affairs.”
When asked to comment on Biden's criticism of the far right in Israel and his call for changes in Netanyahu's government that would get rid of the extremists, Smotrich responded, “I see that as a compliment.”
Two Opinion Polls
Two Maariv and Yedioth Ahronoth polls conducted this week showed Friday that a high percentage of Israelis oppose the US approach to the future of the Gaza Strip and demand that Israel remains in it.
One poll published by the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, found that 23% of Israelis believe that the Gaza Strip should be ruled by an Israeli military after the war, while 23% say it should be ruled by moderate Arab states.
Another poll published on Friday by the Israeli newspaper Maariv said 43% of Israelis disapprove of Netanyahu’s treatment of Biden than support it, 36%.
The poll also showed a “decline in popularity” for the Likud Party led by Netanyahu.
According to the poll results, if the elections were held today, Likud and its ally parties would win 43 seats, compared to the 64 seats this coalition currently holds in the parliament or Knesset, according to the 2022 elections.
The results concluded that the Likud party would receive only 17 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while the National Unity Party led by Gantz would receive 39 seats if general elections were held.



Israel Says No Foreign Courts Have Warrants Issued against Reservists

 Israeli military vehicles operate on a base near the border to Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli military vehicles operate on a base near the border to Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Says No Foreign Courts Have Warrants Issued against Reservists

 Israeli military vehicles operate on a base near the border to Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli military vehicles operate on a base near the border to Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel said on Tuesday pressure groups were pushing foreign courts to take action against Israelis over alleged war crimes in Gaza but described the actions as "propaganda activity" and said no warrants had been issued.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The warrants sparked outrage in Israel but also drew fears that similar warrants could be issued against Israelis who served in the military in Gaza.

On Sunday, an Israeli reservist on holiday in Brazil left the country after a Brazilian federal judge in Salvador ordered police to open an investigation into allegations that he had committed war crimes while serving with the military in Gaza.

The Hind Rajab Foundation, the pro-Palestinian group which brought the action, says on its website it "focuses on offensive legal action against perpetrators, accomplices and inciters of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine."

The Belgium-based group, named after a Palestinian girl killed in Gaza last year, also said it had filed evidence of alleged war crimes with the ICC against 1,000 Israelis, including video and audio reports, forensic reports and other documentation. The ICC confirmed it had received a filing and said it would "analyze the materials submitted, as appropriate".

Israel's foreign ministry offered assistance to the reservist singled out by the action but officials said the issue was not widespread.

"This is a phenomenon of very limited scope in numbers," foreign ministry director general Eden Bar Tal told reporters in Jerusalem, saying there had been no more than 10-12 cases since the beginning of Israel's campaign in Gaza 15 months ago.

"There was no warrant issued in any of these cases. So it was, I would say, a relatively strong PR activity but with very low, very, very low - zero - in judicial results," he said.

"We believe it's a lot of propaganda activity in general and it's sponsored by entities, a very low number of entities, that have direct connections to terrorist organizations," he said.

Hind Rajab Foundation founder, Dyab Abou Jahjah, posts messages on the social media platform X promising to file legal action against Israeli soldiers and asking for help identifying them. He has also posted messages in support of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, designated as a terrorist organization by many Western countries.

The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case in Brazil attracted wide attention in Israel, underscoring fears that individuals beyond the government and military leadership could be drawn into the war crimes issue, particularly through social media posts.

The Israeli military has warned reservists that they could face arrest abroad over alleged war crimes in Gaza, according to documents published by Israeli media. The left-wing Haaretz newspaper said complaints against IDF soldiers have been filed in South Africa, Belgium and France as well as Brazil.

However, Rubens Becak, a law professor at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, said it was not always straightforward for third countries to respond to suits of this kind.

"Without specific legislation, it becomes very difficult for institutions such as the Federal Police to act in cases like this," he said.