Israel has urged what it called “nations of the civilised world” to refuse to implement any international criminal court arrest warrants issued against its leaders.
. . .
What was widely interpreted in Israel as an equivalence between the named leaders of the Islamist group – Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s chief in Gaza, Mohammed Deif, the commander of its military wing, and Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the political bureau – and democratically elected Israeli politicians was met with outrage by Israeli officials, the public, and the country’s allies.
On Tuesday, a government spokesperson, Tal Heinrich, said: “We call on the nations of the civilised, free world – nations who despise terrorists and anyone who supports them – to stand by Israel. You should outright condemn this step.
“Make sure the ICC understands where you stand. Oppose the prosecutor’s decision and declare that, even if warrants are issued, you do not intend to enforce them. Because this is not about our leaders. It’s about our survival.”
Yes, they were elected. Quite a long time ago.
However, Israel (arguably) through the PLO, has blocked every opportunity for new elections since then. The last most recent attempt was in 2021, where Israel directly intervened to prevent Palestinians in East Jerusalem from voting.
So like, yes its true that Hamas is an elected government. Its also true that they haven’t had elections in 2 decades. Its also true that both Hamas and Fatah in agreement have tried several times to hold elections, and have either been foibled via the PLO (which by some is considered an influence puppet of Israel), or directly prevented by Israel.
Exactly. When someone thinks an occupied people living under siege and military occupation can just wake up one day and decide to hold elections I can only shake my head. Israel won’t allow it, because they love Hamas being in power in Gaza, it provides a very easy excuse for their actions. Israel loves the status quo, because they can seemingly get away with anything as it is.
MMm. I disagree. I think they love Hamas being viewed as an illegitimate government, and have been consistently concerned that Hamas will legitimately win any election when called. Hence their effectively trying to block Hamas from the ballot or preventing elections from happening. They want Hamas as an ‘illegitimate partner’, but not to be recognized as a ‘legitimate partner’.
I don’t think they care whether they are legitimate or not to be completely honest. Hamas won the election in '06 fair and square, then defended against an attempted coup…whether that leaves them as a legitimate power or not is beyond my scope of understanding. One could probably also argue that they lack of elections for the last 18 years makes them illegitimate. But regardless, Hamas is an easy excuse whether they were elected fairly today or 18 years ago. I honestly don’t think Israel would treat Hamas and Palestinians any differently if they won a fair election again next week.