Letters to the Editor: Walk in Israelis’ shoes before criticizing their election choices
I am writing this as a fellow Israeli voter. While I fully respect your right to vote and hold an opinion, I have an underlying question for you: Are you an idiot?
On Friday morning, as many of you were awake, I listened to a speech from President Obama in which he outlined an idea he called the “global partnership” for his plan to defeat the Islamic State. In essence, he called on the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Palestinian Authority to participate in efforts to defeat the Islamic State.
On Monday night, the Arab League announced they will be participating in the International Criminal Court and will cooperate with the U.N.’s investigation into the crimes of the Islamic State.
On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously endorsed a resolution requiring all states to cooperate with the ICC in the investigation. I think it is important to note, as a former prosecutor, that every single member of the United Nations Security Council except for Israel abstained from the vote. This vote came after a phone call from the U.S. to the Security Council, during which Obama asked several times if he could bring up Israel without Israel having to first bring up Palestine. He also asked why a vote on Palestine was necessary in the Security Council and not with the General Assembly.
On Wednesday, Israelis participated in the U.N. Security Council. In fact, the only opposition came from South Sudan, which abstained from the vote and then asked for the U.N.’s help in securing the release of imprisoned journalist Jamal Khashoggi (you can read the entire transcript [PDF] here).
This brings me to my question: Have you become an “idiot”? On one hand, your president spoke directly to the people of Israel and asked them to participate in these efforts. On the other hand, the Arab League declared their intention to cooperate with the ICC investigation.
In either case, you should not be criticizing the election result for one or the other. It is fine—both actions were necessary—to support what Israel stands for. But please do not criticize either Israel’s election choices or an election result that supports a country’s democracy. The only thing you should criticize is that you allowed your own