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Leaders
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Leaders
Former Israeli PM Olmert Denounces Gaza Conflict: "What is it if not a war crime?"
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has sharply criticized the current political leadership and military actions in Israel. In a recent interview with CNN, he expressed his inability to defend Israel against accusations of war crimes. Olmert, who served from 2006 to 2009, highlighted the ongoing blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the rising death toll among Palestinians. A Rhetorical Question on War Crimes 'What is it if not a war crime?' Olmert asked rhetorically during the interview. He accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right government members of committing actions that cannot be justified. Since the war began, Olmert has defended Israel against claims of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. He previously asserted that Israel does not deliberately target civilians, especially women and children. However, after 19 months of conflict, Olmert believes he can no longer maintain that defense. Following the publication of his op-ed in Haaretz, he stated, 'What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation.' He described the military actions as indiscriminate, limitless, cruel, and criminal against civilians. CNN has reached out to the Prime Minister's Office for a response to Olmert's statements. Rising Casualties in Gaza According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, over 54,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the war began. This figure includes at least 28,000 women and children. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported in January that they had killed more than 20,000 Hamas fighters. Olmert emphasized the need to protect uninvolved civilians in Gaza from military operations, which he deemed unjustified. 'I think that we have to make sure that no uninvolved people in Gaza are hurt,' he said. Olmert directed most of his criticism toward Netanyahu and far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. He expressed hope that this government would soon disappear, stating, 'I believe that the majority of Israelis are sick and tired of these policies.' He lamented the damage this government has caused to Israel's moral integrity. Polls indicate that most Israelis support a comprehensive ceasefire agreement. This agreement would involve the release of the remaining 58 hostages held in Gaza and an end to the ongoing conflict. Despite this, Netanyahu has refused to commit to a ceasefire, insisting that military operations will continue until Hamas is defeated. Hope for Change Through Trump Like many hostage families who have lost faith in Netanyahu, Olmert looks to U.S. President Donald Trump for assistance in ending the war. He believes Trump is one of the few individuals capable of compelling Netanyahu to confront the reality of the situation. 'I really certainly think that he is the only person perhaps that can force the Israeli prime minister to come to terms with reality,' Olmert concluded. Short link : Post Views: 17
Arab Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab Times
Mind boggling ... experts turn blind eye to tragedy in Gaza
Ehud Olmert, former Israeli Prime Minister (2006–2009), wrote in an article published in Haaretz, 'What we are doing in Gaza is a war of destruction, indiscriminate killing, and crimes against civilians, all carried out as a result of a government policy dictated by malice, and a lack of sense of responsibility. Yes, we are committing 'war crimes.' How can Netanyahu openly say that Gaza must be starved and that two million people should be deprived of basic human needs? Yes, there are 'terrorists', and we must fight them, but what the government is doing is not a war on Hamas. Rather, it increasingly looks like a political war waged by a prime minister and a group of thugs representing the Israeli government.' Israeli Jewish historian and intellectual Ilan Pappe asked, 'Why do intellectuals become fools when they defend Israel? It is surprising to see senior academics, politicians, and journalists continue to support the current Israeli government. These are highly educated, knowledgeable people on virtually every global issue, and we respect their expertise and perspectives. Yet, when it comes to Israel, we are forced to ask - How can some of the most capable and informed among them be so blind as to uncritically echo the Israeli narrative, without criticism or questioning, despite the critical thinking they apply elsewhere? This phenomenon demands serious investigation. We call it moral stupidity. It is unbelievable and utterly foolish. 'The Germans are particularly notable in this regard. I don't know if anyone has truly engaged with German intellectuals about why they still back Israel. It is deeply embarrassing and calls for careful analysis and understanding. It's as if they are willing to humiliate themselves while believing they are intellectuals, researchers, and journalists, yet they choose to appease a state that commits daily aggression against other people.' In a powerful speech to the Security Council about the situation in Gaza, American trauma surgeon Dr. Feroz Sidhwa shared his firsthand experience witnessing the severe impact on Gaza's healthcare system during his medical missions to Khan Yunis. He said, 'I am not here as a policymaker, but as a doctor who has seen the destruction of healthcare infrastructure, the targeting of medical personnel, and the suffering of an entire community.' Dr. Sidhwa described performing surgeries under extremely difficult conditions, including operating on unsanitary floors without adequate anesthesia, and treating children suffering from preventable conditions due to restricted access to medical supplies. He also recounted caring for pregnant women with severe injuries. Dr. Sidhwa revealed that 83 percent of American medical personnel in Gaza reported treating children with gunshot wounds to the head or chest. 'This is not a failure of the system. It has been systematically dismantled through violations of international law,' he stated. He also condemned the man-made famine that is now claiming more civilian lives than the bombs. His testimony culminated in the March 18 mass casualty incident at Nasser Hospital, where 221 wounded had arrived one morning. Ninety of them were found dead on arrival, nearly half of them children, killed by an assault overwhelming any besieged healthcare system. Parents identified their children's remains by their clothing. Highlighting the psychological toll of the conflict, he said, 'Nearly half of Gaza's children are now suicidal, some asking, 'Why didn't I die with my family?'' Dr. Sidhwa appealed to the Security Council to implement seven urgent measures, including an arms embargo, condemning their inaction as 'evidence of the collapse of the global conscience' while Gaza's last doctors and a generation of Palestinians face annihilation. He concluded his testimony with a powerful statement - 'You cannot claim ignorance when children no longer want to live.' And yet, after all this, a controversial Kuwaiti writer called on Palestinians to surrender ... to their fate.
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Business
- Middle East Eye
Azerbaijan maintains oil sales to Israel despite Turkish backlash, says report
Azerbaijan has vowed to Israel that it will continue supplying the country with oil, despite officially halting oil sales last year, according to a report in Haaretz. Baku recently removed oil sales to Israel from its customs records, after steady year-on-year increases in exports to the country which had reached over a million tons in 2024. According to the records, exports to Israel stopped in October amid the war on Gaza. However, Israeli sources told Haaretz that the sales have continued, and that the change in customs records may be due to the transactions being made to traders registered in third countries. "We received a promise from the Azerbaijanis that the strategic relations will continue, including in the energy sector, and we have nothing to worry about," one source said. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Two Israeli sources said that the halt on sales in October was driven by pressure from Turkey, Baku's most important political and military ally. Azerbaijan's state oil company to invest $7bn in Turkey Read More » The Turkish pressure, Haaretz reported, is partly due to the fact that Azerbaijani oil exported to Israel is carried by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, running through Turkey. Ankara cut trade ties with Israel in May last year over the war on Gaza and Israeli refusal to allow Turkey to airdrop humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave. Several Turkish opposition parties and voices have protested against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, accusing it of continuing to supply Israel with Azerbaijani oil. Protests have also taken place outside the Istanbul office of Socar, Azerbaijan's state oil company. The Israeli source told Haaretz: "Even if Azerbaijan stops exporting oil to Israel, we will not collapse. We will bring it from somewhere else. "But they want to balance the situation in which they are dependent only on us, from a security perspective.' Tankers turning off tracking signal Israel provided military and diplomatic assistance to Azerbaijan in its offensive against Armenia in September 2023, which resulted in an Azerbaijani takeover of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Ilham Shaban, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Caspian Barrel Oil Research Centre, told Haaretz that by selling oil through individuals, it can avoid publicising that the exports eventually end up in Israel. He said that Baku could then claim that the sales do 'not fuel the planes that annihilate Palestinian children'. Analysis in November found evidence of 'systemised trade' in crude oil between Turkey and Israel, despite Ankara's trade embargo over the war. The Stop Fuelling Genocide campaign released evidence that suggested that the Seavigour tanker shipped crude oil from Turkey's Ceyhan port to a pipeline near Ashkelon in Israel. Cop29 turns heat up on Turkey and Azerbaijan over oil exports to Israel Read More » The port is the last stop on the BP-owned Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The oil is then shipped from the Heydar Aliyev Terminal at Ceyhan to Israel, accounting for almost 30 percent of its crude oil imports. The researchers tracked 10 journeys made in 2024 by the Kimolos tanker between Ceyhan and Ashkelon, with eight of them occurring after Turkey announced its embargo in May. Despite the ship turning off its tracking signal for several days in the Eastern Mediterranean to mask its route, the researchers managed to identify it as docking in Israel 10 times using satellite imagery. Port logs for the Kimolos reveal that on a typical trip to Israel, the tanker is registered as being bound for Egypt, leaving with a full load of oil. But the tanker does not dock in Egypt, instead 'disappearing' for a few days in the Eastern Mediterranean. This strategy follows a similar pattern to that of the Seavigour, which also turned off its location transponder and reappeared in Sicily days later. The Turkish energy ministry has repeatedly denied that any oil tankers bound for Israel have left Ceyhan since May, stating that 'companies transporting oil through the BTC pipeline for export to global markets from Haydar Aliyev Terminal have respected Turkiye's recent decision not to engage in trade with Israel'. Middle East Eye previously reported that the advocacy group Oil Change International, which authored a report tracking oil shipments to Israel up until July 2024, said its data sources showed multiple shipments from Ceyhan since May. A Turkish official previously told MEE that BP sells oil to intermediary companies, which Ankara cannot control, and tankers pick up the oil "without declaring their final destination".
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Israeli navy prepares to block Gaza-bound flotilla
Israel's navy is reportedly getting ready to intercept the Madleen flotilla as it heads towards Gaza on Sunday night, with military sources suggesting efforts are being made to avoid drawing widespread media attention. The Israeli military says it has rehearsed multiple scenarios ahead of the planned operation to stop the vessel, the Israaeli daily Haaretz reported. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier issued a warning to those on board, stating that he had ordered the army to use 'any means necessary' to stop the flotilla from breaching the naval blockade. 'The State of Israel will not allow anyone to violate the naval blockade on Gaza, which aims to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,' Katz said. He added, 'Greta and her friends better turn back – because they will not reach Gaza.' The flotilla's organisers say their mission is humanitarian, aimed at challenging Israel's ongoing siege of the coastal enclave.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on Israel's international reputation: sliding ever downward
Slowly but perceptibly, the relentless flow of images of horror and suffering from Gaza is hardening opposition to Israel's actions there, even among those traditionally considered the country's staunchest supporters. The shift will be unacceptably slow for anyone desperate to stop the killing, while it appears to have had little effect as yet on the brutal tactics of Israeli forces. But it represents a change of attitude among international political leaders and their voters that could have far-reaching consequences for the region. A YouGov poll this week showed support and sympathy for Israel in western Europe at its lowest ever level. Less than 20 per cent of respondents held a favourable opinion of the country. In what the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz described as 'a rebuke typically reserved for pariah regimes,' the UK has suspended free trade negotiations. Along with Canada and France, it has also threatened 'concrete actions' in response to what Keir Starmer describes as Israel's 'appalling' actions. Even Germany issued its harshest criticism since the war began with the Hamas attack of October 7th 2023, Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying he 'no longer understands' Israel's goals in Gaza. Ireland has been among the most vociferous EU opponents of the war and a further landmark arrived this week with Trinity College Dublin's decision to sever all ties with Israeli companies and universities. It remains to be seen whether other institutions follow suit, but the move, while largely symbolic, is significant nonetheless. READ MORE Supporters of Binyamin Netanyahu's government are quick to paint such gestures as anti-Smitic. It is true that the scourge of anti-Semitism can be found among some elements of the anti-war movement, as recent violent attacks in the US have shown. But the accusation that all protests are driven by hatred of Jews rather than humanitarian concern does not stand up to scrutiny. The charge wears even thinner given opposition in Israel itself. Former prime minister Ehud Olmert has described his country's actions as a war crime. Hundreds of former operatives of the intelligence agency Mossad, including three retired heads, have accused Netanyahu of continuing the violence for selfish political reasons, to satisfy far-right members of his government. These comments may reflect a rising awareness among some of the country's elite that what is happening in Gaza is not just an appalling tragedy for Palestinians. It also threatens to become a disaster for the state of Israel. With the governing coalition under the sway of far-right racist ministers who have no respect for international law or for the human rights of those they deem 'barbarians', Israel drifts ever further away from the liberal democratic values it purports to share with its increasingly sceptical friends and allies.
