Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage at the UN General Assembly just over a week after an independent UN Commission concluded that Israel has committed genocide — the worst crime under international law.
After speaking at an institution he regularly disparages, founded after the horrors of the holocaust, Benjamin Netanyahu made his way to Washington, DC, where President Donald Trump had invited him, confident that, no matter what, “this America will have his back.”
For a man with a standing arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court, a genocide case that’s being weighed by the International Court of Justice, and major human rights groups advocating for his arrest, the man appears to be receiving a greater welcome than Nobel Peace Prize winners.
It’s undeniable that no leader responsible for mass atrocities enjoys greater impunity on the world stage than Netanyahu, due to the weird stranglehold of the pro-Israel lobby on the establishment of both major political parties in the United States, which are willing to go to any lengths to protect Netanyahu from prosecution.
Netanyahu has been emboldened by the present “might is right” approach to international affairs being promoted by Trump and tacitly supported by the likes of China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“How can a war criminal be allowed to speak to the international community while his genocidal army is committing unspeakable crimes against humanity?” people around the world are asking.
According to the Pew Research Center’s latest findings, more than half of American adults now possess a negative opinion of Israel. Just 32 percent have confidence in Netanyahu himself.
The detention of protesters was the most prevalent violation of 2024, according to our annual People Power Under Attack research, occurring in at least 76 countries, many placing their lives at risk for a free Palestine.
This year, as last, a large number of delegates to the United Nations walked out of the UN hall when Netanyahu came on stage, with Netanyahu speaking to an almost-empty hall. Antonio Gutteres himself told Fareed Zakaria last week that “the level of death and destruction in Gaza has no comparison with anything else that I’ve seen since I am secretary-general.”
And thousands of people from across the United States marched to the UN Secretariat to demand the arrest of Netanyahu for his military assault on Gaza.
Just this past week, protesters in Israel marched to the Gaza border, demanding their government end the war and urging an international boycott of Israel as a pressure tactic. One protester said, “These crimes are being committed in our name, and it is our duty to resist them.”
Israeli army officers are refusing to serve in an “unnecessary, eternal war” in Gaza, and some Israelis refuse national conscription at all.
However, despite the protests, the alienation of Israel on a global stage, and vilification by the anguished families of the October 7 hostages, Netanyahu only becomes more defiant.
“The United States is holding all of us hostage,” Agnès Callamard, the head of Amnesty International, said this week. If Netanyahu isn’t stopped, things will only get worse.
Netanyahu’s manipulation of US foreign policy has severely weakened the moral impact of the United Nations, which has often appeared helpless in the face of Israeli genocide and the wanton killings of so many, particularly of children ages five and under.
This has severely undermined global trust in the value of international cooperation. The horrors of the First and Second World Wars occurred in the absence of accountability and were enabled by the impunity enjoyed by political leaders for whom human life and the suffering of others mattered very little.
So far, Netanyahu’s actions have shown that he is ready to go to any lengths to satiate the hatred of his most ardent supporters and to escape accountability for the security lapses that led to 7 October and delay the conclusion of the impending corruption case against him.
And it will only get worse.
Last Wednesday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich touted the potential real estate “bonanza” that awaits. “We have done the demolition phase, which is always the first phase of urban renewal,” he said, referring to Israel’s bombardments of Palestine. “Now we need to build.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Sunday called for the “complete dismantling” of the Palestinian Authority and said he intended to put annexation on the agenda for the next cabinet meeting.
Netanyahu has vowed “there will be no Palestinian state” despite the widespread support for it at the United Nations.
Demands for accountability are only going to grow stronger. If global institutions are to retain any legitimacy, then world leaders will need to heed the demands of people who believe in our common humanity.
The US cannot continue to turn its back on victims while it embraces war criminals. Civil society has spoken clearly: stop enabling crimes, stop silencing dissent, stop treating accountability as optional. And arrest Netanyahu this week so he can be tried for genocide.
The lives saved would merit a Nobel Peace Prize.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.