The reactions of many Democrats to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech on Wednesday before a joint session of Congress offer a case study in double standards.
Scores of congressional Democrats weren’t present for Mr. Netanyahu’s address, and many made clear they were purposely boycotting it. Several, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), called the prime minister a “war criminal,” citing the International Criminal Court proceedings against him. “I fully agree with the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice that he should be held accountable for his crimes, not addressing Congress,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) wrote of Mr. Netanyahu in a statement explaining her boycott.
The Biden administration has declared that the U.S. rejects the ICC’s jurisdiction in the case. Moreover, while the ICC prosecutor has requested an arrest warrant for Mr. Netanyahu, the ICC itself hasn’t issued the warrant. Nor was Mr. Netanyahu named in the ICJ’s recent advisory opinion on Israel.
No such qualifications apply in the case of Kenyan President William Ruto, who received a lavish U.S. state dinner this past May that Ms. Omar and other left-wing critics of Mr. Netanyahu attended. In 2011 the ICC approved Mr. Ruto’s indictment for crimes against humanity, accusing him of helping to orchestrate large-scale violence in the wake of Kenya’s 2007 presidential election. The case against him was abandoned five years later due to what the ICC’s presiding judge described as “witness interference and intolerable political meddling” that made prosecution impossible.
Also in attendance at the White House celebration for Mr. Ruto in May were Presidents Biden and Obama, the Clintons, several Hollywood celebrities and progressive megadonor Alexander Soros. Vice President Kamala Harris—who attended a sorority event in Indiana rather than Mr. Netanyahu’s address on Wednesday—was also present at the Ruto celebration, and she hosted an additional luncheon with him. The Congressional Black Caucus feted Mr. Ruto at a special ceremony and made him an honorary member. Ten members of the caucus boycotted Mr. Netanyahu’s address.
Mr. Netanyahu’s ICC charges are nothing like Mr. Ruto’s. It’s quite clear that the crimes with which Mr. Ruto was charged actually happened. The ICC prosecutor’s principal allegation against Israeli leaders today is purposeful starvation of Gazans. But that charge has been undermined by extensive evidence, including by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification organization, that there is no famine in Gaza, deliberate or otherwise. In Mr. Ruto’s case, the ICC’s jurisdiction was undisputed, as Kenya is a member state. Israel isn’t. Further, as I reported in these pages last month, the supposed experts on whom the ICC prosecutor relied in charging Mr. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have long histories of anti-Israel activism.
The violent mobs in Washington that protested Mr. Netanyahu’s address were nowhere to be seen when the Biden administration toasted Mr. Ruto and promoted Kenya to the coveted official designation, shared with Israel, of “major non-NATO ally.” Wednesday’s crowd beat policemen, burned and desecrated American flags, and vandalized public property, while flying the banners of designated terrorist groups including Hamas.
Ms. Harris rightly condemned these “despicable acts,” which involved evident crimes. But will the Biden administration throw the full weight of the law at the perpetrators? It certainly knows how to crack down on protesters when it wants to. Earlier this month it imposed harsh sanctions on Tzav 9 and its founder, Reut Ben Haim, an Israeli mother of eight. Tzav 9 blocks traffic in Israel to protest the delivery of aid to Gaza, much of which winds up in Hamas’s hands.
That’s a tactic common to protest movements, including U.S.-based anti-Israel groups, which in recent months have blocked access to several major airports. Not only did the administration take no steps against those illegal actions, but it now appears willing even to allow pro-Hamas mobs to rampage in the U.S. capital.
First published in The Wall Street Journal (“Hypocrisy and Tumult Greet Netanyahu”, July 25, 2024)
