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ONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – New York City’s socialist mayor Zohran Mandami campaigned on arresting Isreal’s Banjamin Netanyahu and turning him over to stand trial at the International Court in The Hague.
Only this month did our federal government give him a reminder about his role in U.S. foreign policy: he has none.
But let’s start with a more basic question. Why does the International Court have no jurisdiction over Americans, and by extension no jurisdiction over Israel’s prime minister?
In America, our laws are passed by Congress – citizens who are voted into office by the American people. Laws are then signed by the President, also voted into office by the people. International law, in its vagaries, is passed by no one. The International Court is called on to enforce its own vision of right and wrong, or, sometimes to enforce treaties between nations.
Consider the judges who sit on the International Court. One is from Uganda, a nation that practices honor killings. Another is from China, a country with very different views about human rights and individual liberty. That is precisely why Americans are tired in American courts.
Benjamin Netanyahu is subject to Israeli law, and lord knows his political opponents in his country have been trying to apply it to him. Bibi has been facing a relentless prosecution over a wristwatch that a political donor gave to him. The case against him is ridiculous; he is a man of wealth and he can buy any Rolex he wishes with his own money. On the international stage he is painted as a war criminal for how he carried out the fighting in Gaza. To state the obvious, if Israelis are outraged over how their wars are carried out, they are a democracy, and they are free to elect different leaders. Yet, in times of war, Bibi is the leader that Israelis trust. He’s been prime minister for 19 years.
Now, back to New York. Zohran Mandami is an unrepentant Jew-hater. He somehow thinks it is within his power to create an international incident when Netanyahu visited the United National this September. It begs the question: Mr Mayor, would you arrest Vladimir Putin for all the civilian deaths in Ukraine. Would you arrest Kim Jung Un for the brutality of North Korea. Or China’s Xi Jinping – his government runs reeducation camps filled with fellow Muslims. No. You are blinded by your hated of Israel and the Jews. That’s why on the international stage, he isn’t ready for prime time.
Chris Conley
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