Latest news with #EhudOlmert
AU Financial Review
10 hours ago
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
The flashing signals I just saw in Israel
I just spent a week in Israel and, while it may not look as if much has changed — the grinding war in the Gaza Strip continues to grind — I felt something new there for the first time since October 7, 2023. It is premature to call it a broad-based anti-war movement, which can happen only when all the Israeli hostages are returned. But I did see signals flashing that more Israelis, from the left to the centre and to even parts of the right, are concluding that continuing this war is a disaster for Israel morally, diplomatically or strategically. From the political centre, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wrote an essay in the newspaper Haaretz in which he pulled no punches against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition.
Middle East Eye
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
More than a thousand Israeli academics call for end to war in Gaza over 'moral collapse'
Hundreds of academics from universities and colleges across Israel have called for an end to the war in Gaza, warning of "moral collapse" across the country. On Tuesday , a letter signed by 1,300 academics was sent to the heads of the academic system in Israel, calling on higher education facilities to "mobilise the full weight of Israeli academia to stop the Israeli war in Gaza". "This is a horrifying litany of war crimes and even crimes against humanity, all of our own doing," the letter, organised by a group naming themselves the Black Flag Action Group, reads. "We cannot claim that we did not know. We have been silent for too long." "Black Flag" is a reference to Israeli jurisprudence, in which a black flag is said to fly over orders whose sheer immorality makes them illegal to follow. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'As academics, we recognize our own role in these crimes. It is human societies, not governments alone, that commit crimes against humanity," read the letter. "Some do so by means of direct violence. Others do so by sanctioning the crimes and justifying them, before and after the fact, and by keeping quiet and silencing voices in the halls of learning. It is this bond of silence that allows clearly evident crimes to continue unabated without penetrating the barriers of recognition.' Top genocide scholars unanimous that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza: Dutch investigation Read More » Increasing numbers of prominent figures in Israel have begun speaking out again the army's actions in Gaza. Last week, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert condemned his country's actions in Gaza, accusing the government of killing innocent Palestinians. In a BBC interview on Tuesday, Olmert, who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, said what Israel was doing in Gaza is "very close to a war crime". He told the network that the 'obvious appearance' of the war on Gaza is that "thousands of innocent Palestinians are being killed, as well as many Israeli soldiers," adding that "from every point of view, this is obnoxious and outrageous". According to the latest update by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 54,249 Palestinians have been killed and 123,492 wounded since the start of Israel's war on Gaza. The Israeli army has killed at least 3,986 Palestinians and wounded 11,451 others since breaking the ceasefire agreement on 18 March. More than 180,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced by the offensive. The ministry said that 67 bodies and 184 injured people arrived at Gaza hospitals in the past 24 hours.
New Straits Times
20 hours ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
NST Leader: Threats won't end the slaughter in Gaza
PRESSURE is piling on Israel as its warmongering leader Benjamin Netanyahu goes on a bloody rampage to drive the 2.3 million Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip. The latest to do so is Asean after the Gulf Cooperation Council called on the bloc to support Palestinian rights at the Asean-GCC-China Summit on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Germany, an ironclad ally of Israel, delivered the "most severe rebuke yet over Gaza", saying the country would not export weapons that are used to break humanitarian law, reported Reuters. Berlin's about-turn is attributed to the European Union's ongoing review of its Israeli policy. Germany is said to be selling about 30 per cent of Tel Aviv's weapons imports. Britain, France and Canada are also threatening "concrete actions" against Israel. Rebukes are good, but they must be followed by deeds. To stop at mere threats would not end Israel's atrocities against the Palestinians. Besides, to do so in the face of war crimes is to be morally and legally irresponsible. War crimes they certainly are, confirmed former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in an op-ed he wrote in Israeli newspaper Haaretz, quoted by The Guardian. Calling Netanyahu the head of a criminal gang, he said Israel is engaged in indiscriminate, cruel and criminal killings of civilians. Yes, Israel is committing war crimes, he wrote. The British newspaper also quoted Israel's Democratic Party leader Yair Golan as telling an Israeli broadcaster that "a sane country doesn't fight against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations". If more evidence is what the European leaders are waiting for, it was provided in an open letter sent to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday by prominent lawyers, academics and former judges, including two from the country's highest court. They are clear about their conclusion: genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza, or at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide occurring. All states, including the United Kingdom, are legally obliged to take all reasonable steps within their power to prevent and punish genocide, to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and to bring an end to violations of international law. To date, the UK has failed to meet the standards, the letter concludes. So have others in Europe, we add. The legal practitioners in the UK want Starmer's government to take five "concrete actions". First, use all available means to secure an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire and ensure the unconditional and unimpeded resumption of aid. Second, lift Israel's ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Third, impose financial and immigration sanctions on Israeli ministers, military personnel and civil personnel reasonably suspected of involvement in unlawful acts. Fourth, review trade ties with Israel; suspend the 2030 Roadmap for closer UK-Israel partnership; and impose trade sanctions on Israel. Finally, confirm that the UK will adhere to its obligation to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court. This is crucial because without being held accountable, Israel will continue to massacre Palestinians with impunity, as it is doing in Gaza. Britain and the EU have the power to end the slaughter in Gaza. They must exercise their power.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘What is it if not a war crime?' Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert blasts war in Gaza
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has blasted the country's political leadership and the conduct of its military, telling CNN he is no longer able to defend Israel against accusations of war crimes. Olmert, who led the country from 2006-2009, pointed to Israel's 11-week blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the soaring number of Palestinians killed. 'What is it if not a war crime?' he asked rhetorically in an interview with CNN. He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right members of his government are 'committing actions which can't be interpreted any other way.' Since the start of the war, Olmert has defended Israel abroad against accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. When women and children were killed, Olmert said he told officials and interviewers that Israel would not deliberately target civilians. But 19 months into a war Olmert says should have ended a year ago, he believes he can no longer make that case. CNN spoke to Olmert following the publication of an op-ed by the former prime minister that was published in Israel's Haaretz newspaper on Tuesday, in which he wrote: 'What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians.' CNN has asked the Prime Minister's Office for comment on Olmert's op-ed. More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, including at least 28,000 women and children. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in January that it had killed more than 20,000 Hamas fighters. 'I think that we have to make sure that no uninvolved people in Gaza are hurt because of the expansion of these military operations, which is entirely unjustified and doesn't serve any important interests of the state of Israel at this point,' Olmert said. Olmert, who spent 16 months in prison on corruption charges, leveled most of his criticism at Netanyahu, as well as far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. 'I hope that this government will disappear as soon as possible,' he told CNN. 'I believe that the majority of Israelis are sick and tired of these policies, of these statements, of what the terrible damage that was caused by this government to the moral integrity of the state of Israel and the people of Israel.' Polls in Israel have repeatedly shown that most of the country supports a comprehensive ceasefire agreement that would see the release of the remaining 58 hostages held in Gaza and an end to the war. But Netanyahu has refused to commit to an end to the war, insisting that Israel's expanding military campaign in Gaza will continue until the defeat of Hamas. Like the hostage families, many of whom have given up on Netanyahu, Olmert placed his hope in US President Donald Trump to end the war. Trump, he said, is one of the only people who has the ability to compel Netanyahu to end the war. 'I really certainly think that he is the only person perhaps that can force the Israeli prime minister to come to terms with reality and with the moral reality of what is being accomplished by this government,' he told CNN.
2 days ago
- Health
Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert condemns Gaza war as humanitarian crisis deepens
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he believes the war in Gaza no longer has a clear goal, and it has gone too far. Olmert made the comments in an interview with ABC News' Alex Presha Wednesday. Olmert's public criticism of his country's war comes as thousands of Palestinians are suffering from malnutrition and conditions of famine across the Gaza Strip after an 11-week blockade of humanitarian aid by the Israeli government. The distribution of aid entering the strip this week has led to chaotic scenes of people desperate for food fighting to get what they need, leaving two dead and several injured. "We have destroyed Gaza," Olmert told ABC News about the crisis. On Tuesday, chaos broke out at a new food distribution site in Rafah as families fought through crowds to get basic food supplies, the United Nations said. At least one person died and 47 others were hurt when shots were reportedly fired into the crowd of desperate Palestinians who were trying to get food, the UN said. The Israeli Defense Forces fired "warning shots" in the area of the distribution site as people flooded in. The cause of death for the person who was killed is unknown. Olmert said that while Israel had every right to fight back after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, he believes the war has gone too far. He said that while some of the thousands of people who have died in Gaza since the conflict began were terrorists who needed to be stopped, many were innocent people. "We are now almost 18 or 19 months after the beginning of that war." Olmert said. "We have destroyed Gaza. We have killed perhaps more than 50,000 people, of which there were few with. There were terrorists, and that should have been punished by so many who were not to carry on the war." Watch Olmert's full interview with ABC News in the video above. Over 53,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. While statistics do not distinguish between military and non-military casualties, women and children make up tens of thousands of this number, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. "Yes, there was shooting. It's food dipped in blood," Mazen Yunis, a Gazan from Khan Younis, told ABC News outside the distribution site Tuesday. He added, "I have a 10-member family and only came back with a can of peas." Olmert told ABC News he is angry about what some Israeli leaders have been saying about the worsening crisis. He described their comments about "starving Gaza" and treating all Palestinians like terrorists as "war crime statements." He warned that this approach puts both Palestinian civilians and the 20 Israeli hostages still in Gaza in danger. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said military pressure will help free the hostages, Olmert disagrees. He calls Netanyahu's claims "ridiculous" and says they don't match what is really happening. "I think that the feeling is that Trump getting tired of the rhetoric and manipulation of Netanyahu. He should call him to Washington, as he did a few months ago, summoned him to the White House, to the Oval Office, beautiful office there, and in front of the whole world, you will tell him, Mr. Netanyahu, enough is enough," Olmert said. Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly fired back in a video response on Wednesday, calling Olmert's statements "horrible" words that he said feed into lies about Israel and the Israel Defense Forces.
