The ICC Goes after Israel
On 22 May 2024, I was on Judge Napolitano’s “Judging Freedom” podcast. We discussed Israel’s policies in Gaza and where they are likely to lead, as well as the recent decision by the ICC’s chief prosecutor to seek arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
As I’ve said previously, we in the US and the world at large would have been doing ourselves a huge favor if we had listened to the advice on all of the subjects that John Mearsheimer has weighed in on over the years. It’s a crying shame that we didn’t have the sense to heed his advice and follow the actions he’s advocated. Those who have had to bear the biggest brunt of the foolishness (and criminality) that we’ve engaged in are the poor US soldiers that we duped into serving their country and going to war in the name of patriotism, the average citizens in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, the soldiers who’ve been used as pawns on both sides of the conflict in Ukraine and the poor Palestinians who have been bullied to death by the Israeli government with the help of the US government. A US government, and the majority of its nationally elected officials, which has been disproportionately influenced by the Israeli lobby in the US. If you haven’t noticed, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt warned us starting years ago that the influence of the Israeli lobby “isn’t good for the US and it isn’t good for Israel in the long run”. These sets of predictable circumstances are all playing themselves out as we speak and as Dr. Mearsheimer states in so many words “rather than coming to our senses we continue to double down”. He’s exactly correct when he says “we have the Midas touch in reverse”. In the meantime, as he adroitly points out, all of these distractions have resulted in our taking our focus on trying to contain China, which is the real threat. So as a result of all of this the world is a much more unstable and dangerous place. The bottom line is that it’s a shame we haven’t taken John Mearsheimer’s advice.
Thank you, Professor Mearsheimer, for your work and for communicating with a wider audience than the academic one!
Your analyses have been crucial to so many people’s understanding of these conflicts and the nature of power