Iran should be the guilty nation facing the terrible accusations that were recently absurdly aimed at Israel by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Since the Shiite Islamic radical fundamentalist Ayatollahs rose to power in Iran in 1979 they have conducted unabated hate and aggression against the one and only Jewish state of Israel calling for it to be wiped off the map and for the expulsion and death of all its Jews.
Iran openly supports violent genocidal fundamentalist Islamic Arab terrorist organizations like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen as well as other anti-Israel Arab radical Islamic fundamentalist terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq where Iran controls large parts of those countries.
Jew-hate runs deep and of course it is impossible to ask biased-against-Jews-and-Israel judicial bodies like the ICJ and the ICC that are rooted in the anti-Israel UN to focus accusatory lenses on the real international criminals like Iran and its Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi proxies by means of which Iran wages constant aggression and warfare against the Jews of Israel.
Among the loud noises and complaints against Israel in the self-aggrandizing echo chambers of the hostile media and in political bodies fighting Israel there are constant refrains and slogans that are mindlessly repeated without giving serious thought to the real truth in the real world. The true facts and events of Jewish history and in particular in the history of modern Israel are totally overlooked and maliciously twisted to create the wrong impressions about the Jews and and Israelis.
The world's cameras and microphones are focused on the Arab Palestinians as "victims" and the Jews and Israelis as "aggressors" that one would think that Israel's seven million Jews are somehow a power greater than the world's more than 450 million Arabs and more than two billion Muslims. This feat of optical illusion is achieved by basically condensing the Arab and Muslim side into an Arab "Palestinian" projection whereby it seems by trick photography that 450 million Arabs and two billion Muslims have all become two million "suffering Arab Gazans/"
In fact, it is a minority of seven million Jews in Israel who are facing and fighting two million Gazan Arabs who are part of a greater 450 million Arab world and a two billion Muslim conglomerate of states and groups.
Take the recent goings on at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague. More than fifty nations came forward with accusations and allegations against Israel about its "illegal occupation" and complaints about "settlements and colonization by settlers" and bizarre allegations of "apartheid" and "violence" as well as accusing Israel's leaders of "genocide", "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity." One is amazed that it is the Jewish nation in Israel that is stigmatized, demonized and criminalized while Iran, a nation of ninety million and leader of about 200 million Shia Muslims, is guilty of all the crimes that Israel is falsely accused of and more, conducting aggression outside Iran's borders and brutalizing its own population. All this is ignored by world'media.
Ignorance, xenophobia, Jew-hatred and antisemitism combined with pure malice and evil coalesce in the minds and hearts of Israel's enemies to cover up or turn a blind eye to direct Iranian support for terrorism and war against Israel.
How Iran armed and trained Hamas in Gaza to attack Israel and kill Israelis
Sourced and condensed from the Wikipedia article "Iranian support for Hamas":
Since the early 1990s, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been sponsoring Hamas with military aid and training and financial aid. Iran has remained a key patron of Hamas, providing them with funds, weapons, and training. According to a 2020 U.S. State Department report, Iran provides about $100 million annually to Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas. As of 2023, according to an Israeli security source, Iran had significantly increased its funding for Hamas to $350 million a year.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian authorized the 1995 Kfar Darom bus attack, a bombing operation that killed seven Israeli soldiers and one settler. Iran was behind the 1995 Jaffa Road bus bombings that killed 45 people. The families of United States victims Matthew Eisenfeld and Sarah Duker sued Iran for backing the attack, and won a US$327 million judgment in 2000. As of 2006 collection efforts continue through legal processes. The families, together with the family of another United States citizen killed in the same attack, now seek as much as US$900 million from Iran
Iran's support for Hamas continued through the violence of the Second Intifada (2000–2005). Following Arafat's passing in 2004 and Israel's exit from Gaza in 2005, Tehran's support progressively increased. According to Lebanese militant Anis al-Naqqash, during the Second Intifada, Major General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, and Imad Mughniyeh, chief of military operations for Hezbollah, oversaw the smuggling of weapons to the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad factions.
According to Arash Azizi, during the 2008-09 Gaza War Hamas used Iranian-engineered missiles, many of its commanders had been personally trained by Soleimani in Iran, and Iranian arms were funneled to Gaza using Sudanese ports and tunnels in the Egyptian Sinai.
After the 2007 imposition of a blockade on the Gaza Strip by Israel and Egypt, the Iranian Quds Force under the longtime direction of General Qasem Soleimani had been active in supporting the further construction of tunnels under Gaza and the smuggling of weapons through these tunnels to the armed wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Iranian Brigadier-General Abdolfattah Ahvazian, adviser to the Commander of the Quds Force, said in November 2023 regarding Soleimani's role in the construction and proliferation of the Gaza tunnel network: "Within three years, the Palestinians have dug hundreds of tunnels, approximately 800 km-long. These tunnels allow the passage of cars, mules with ammunition, and motorcycles."
Retired Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Ezzatollah Zarghami admitted in November 2023 of having visited and inspected the Gaza tunnels himself along with senior Hamas members, during his active service with the Quds Force: "Fajr-3, which is a 240 mm rocket, was one of our products. Later, we made its warhead smaller and it had a range of 70 km. I provided training about the usage and specification of the rockets."
In December 2023 Mansour Haghighatpour, also a retired Quds Force General, stated that the creation of the tunnels under Gaza was an effort not only by the Palestinians but by the whole "Axis of Resistance": "The other thing I would like to point out is that the resistance axis, which planned with the Palestinians to build more than 400 kilometers of tunnels under an area of land that did not exceed 40 square kilometers, took various possible 'scenarios' into consideration."
In January 2024 the Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Jaffer Ladak asserted that Soleimani had played a major role in influencing the strategy of the Palestinian factions, turning it away from the suicide bombing attacks widely employed at the time of the Second Intifada and towards an underground warfare strategy.
During the November 2012 Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip, the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major-General Mohammad Ali Jafari said that due to the geographical isolation of the Gaza Strip, Iran cannot directly provide weapons to Hamas but still provides them with the technology and parts through the tunnels, which is then used by the al-Qassam Brigades to manufacture a Palestinian homemade version of the Iranian Fajr-5 missile that has managed to hit Israeli targets.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) worked with Hamas to plan its 7 October 2023 surprise attack on southern Israel and gave the green light for Hamas to launch the assault on a meeting in Beirut on 2 October. In the Hamas-led attack, Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 Israelis, primarily civilians, and took around 200 Israeli civilians and soldiers hostage. In the weeks leading up to the attack, some 500 terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad received training in Iran, under the guidance of the IRGC Quds Force. According to The Washington Post, the attack occurred "with key support from Iran who provided military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons."
How Iran armed and trained Hezbollah in Lebanon to attack Israel and kill Israelis
Sourced and condensed from the Wikipedia articles "Hezbollah–Iran relations", "Hezbollah–Israel conflict", "Iran–Israel proxy conflict":
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a key patron of the Lebanese Shia Islamist terrorist group and political party Hezbollah. Iranian support, including financial aid, deployment of Revolutionary Guards, and training, has played an important role in Hezbollah's formation and development. Hezbollah has functioned as Iran's proxy since its inception, and is considered to be part of the "Axis of Resistance". Hezbollah itself, founded in 1982, originated as an Iranian-backed Shi'ite terrorist group in Lebanon.
Iran considers its relationship with Hezbollah as crucial, as it provides Iran with a means to expand its influence in the Levant, exert pressure on Israel and US interests, discourage any attempts at regime change, and uphold its ideological commitments. Hezbollah has received substantial financial support from Iran, estimated to range from $700 million to $1 billion annually. Additionally, Iran provides weapons, training, and other forms of assistance to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has been involved in a long-running conflict with Israel. The two sides' first engagement occurred during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), as Iran became increasingly involved in Lebanon's internal affairs. With funding from the Iranian government and training and supervision from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah was built up in Syrian-occupied Lebanon by various religious clerics amidst the 1982 Lebanon War, primarily as a Khomeinist force opposed to the Free Lebanon State and the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah controls southern Lebanon and is supported and funded by Iran and serves as their proxy in regional wars. From the inception of Hezbollah to the present the elimination of the state of Israel has been a primary goal for Hezbollah. Hezbollah not only opposes the government and policies of the State of Israel, but also each and every Jewish civilian who lives in Israel. Its 1985 manifesto reportedly states "our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no ceasefire, and no peace agreements." Engagements between Israel and Hezbollah are a part of the wider Iran–Israel proxy conflict.
The Iran–Israel proxy conflict is an ongoing war between Iran and Israel. In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has supported Lebanese Shia militias, most notably Hezbollah. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran has backed Palestinian groups such as Hamas. Iran trained and armed Hezbollah and continued to back Shia militias. Israel fought a war with Hezbollah in 2006. Ideologically, Iran seeks to replace Israel with a one-state solution and has predicted Israel's demise. Israel sees Iran as an existential threat, and accuses its regime of harboring genocidal intentions. Consequently, Israel has sought sanctions and military action against Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
How Iran armed and trained the Houthis in Yemen to attack Israel and Western shipping
Sourced and condensed from the Wikipedia articles "Iran–Yemen relations", "Houthi movement", "Red Sea crisis":
The United States and the Saudi-backed government in Yemen have repeatedly accused Iran of providing funding and weapons to the Zaydi Shia Houthi rebels and claimed to have discovered Iranian-made arms in rebel weapons caches. The group's slogan: "God Is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam" is modelled on the motto of revolutionary Iran, which reads "Death to U.S., and death to Israel".
Former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh had accused the Houthis of having ties to external backers, in particular the Iranian government; Saleh stated in an interview with The New York Times: "The real reason they received unofficial support from Iran was because they repeat same slogan that is raised by Iran – death to America, death to Israel. We have another source for such accusations. The Iranian media repeats statements of support for these [Houthi] elements. They are all trying to take revenge against the USA on Yemeni territories."
In 2017, Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Quds Force, met with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to look for ways to do what was described as "empowering" the Houthis. Soleimani was quoted as saying, "At this meeting, they agreed to increase the amount of help, through training, arms and financial support."
In 2024, commanders from IRGC and Hezbollah were reported to be actively involved on the ground in Yemen, overseeing and directing Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, according to a report by Reuters. The current Red Sea crisis began on 19 October 2023, when the Iran-backed Ansar Allah (Houthi movement) in Yemen launched missiles and armed drones at Israel, demanding an end to the invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have since seized and launched aerial attacks against dozens of merchant and naval vessels in the Red Sea.
The Houthis say they consider any Israel-linked ship as a target, including US and UK warships, but they have also indiscriminately attacked the ships of many nations. From October 2023 to March 2024, the Houthis attacked more than 60 vessels in the Red Sea. Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree said: "We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach".
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi warned the United States against intervening in support of Israel, threatening that such an intervention would be met with retaliation by drone and missile strikes. In order to end their attacks in the Red Sea, the Houthis demanded a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war and an end to the accompanying Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. According to Armament Research Services, Houthi weapons are mostly of Russian, Chinese or Iranian origin. They are known to use surface-to-surface missiles, artillery rockets, loitering munitions and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). They have several missiles and UAVs capable of reaching Israel from Yemen.
Iran-backed Houthi forces began attacking shipping vessels affiliated with Israel passing through the Red Sea on 19 November 2023. By February, 40 vessels had been attacked. Initial Houthi pledges to target any ship with links to Israel were followed by attacks on ships connected to over a dozen nations, as well, stated, in January 2024, as avenging "American-British aggression against our country". US Central Command responded that the Houthis attacks "have nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza" and that Houthis had "fired indiscriminately into the Red Sea", targeting ships, and impacting more than 40 nations. On 3 May 2024, the Houthi-aligned Yemeni Armed Forces SPC military spokesperson Yahya Saree announced, in a televised speech, that: "We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach".
In early May 2024, in what he described as the "fourth stage" of the attacks, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi vowed to attack ships of any company related to Israel or carrying goods for Israel in response to Israel's Rafah offensive in southern Gaza. The Houthis and their supporters have engaged in a disinformation campaign to undermine efforts to secure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and surrounding waters by the United States and its allies and to gain recognition as a regional power.
Reuters, citing unnamed Iranian sources and "a security official close to Iran", has claimed that Iranian personnel are in Yemen, working with Hezbollah militants. Their role involves directing and overseeing Houthi attacks on commercial shipping. The sources also stated that Iran has escalated its provision of advanced drones, anti-ship cruise missiles, precision-strike ballistic missiles, and medium-range missiles to the Houthis, since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war.
US officials told Semafor that commanders and advisors from Iran's Revolutionary Guards are currently stationed in Yemen, and are directly involved in the Houthi attacks on commercial traffic in the Red Sea. The IRGC has also stationed missile and drone trainers and operators in Yemen. The Quds Force, has overseen the transfer of the attack drones, cruise missiles, and medium-range ballistic missiles which have been used in the strikes on Red Sea and Israeli targets in recent weeks.
According to Western intelligence officials, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps placed an intelligence gathering ship to guide Houthi attacks on ships that switch off radios and identifiers. According to the Institute for the Study of War, this was likely MV Behshad, which had replaced MV Saviz which had been used to supply weapons and intelligence to the Houthis. The Iranian frigate Alborz later also entered the Red Sea.
The Houthis have claimed they would target ships that had no military function, which would be a war crime, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and others. The HRW also noted that the detention of captured crews could be considered hostage-taking if they are detained to compel a third party to do or abstain from any act as a condition for the hostage's release or safety. Hostage-taking is a violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime. A statement issued by the HRW called upon the militants to "end their attacks on civilians caught in the crosshairs of their declared war on Israel."
Conclusion
The International Court of Justice hears disputes between states. The International Criminal Court deals with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. There is no doubt that since 1979 and the rise of the fundamentalist radical Shiite Islamic regime in Iran that it has basically declared war against the Jewish state of Israel. Iran's slogan of "death to Israel" says it all.
Iran's use of its proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis to militarily attack and wage war against the Jewish state of Israel is the means by which it actively supports its ultimate goals of genocide against the Jews of Israel.
Instead of the ICJ and the ICC and the UN accusing Israel of crimes it does not and has not committed they should focus on the real villain and culprit Iran that is arming, training and financing its proxies for the purpose of committing crimes against Israel with innumerable war crimes and aggression. Israel is left with no other option than to defend itself to the full against Iran and and its proxies while the UN and the world do nothing and even worse, while the ICJ and the ICC play the blame the victim game by falsely accusing Israel, the victim of Iran's aggression and war, instead of focusing on and judging the real culprit Iran the aggressor and war monger.
Rabbi Yitschak Rudominwas born to Holocaust survivor parents in Israel, grew up in South Africa, and lives in Brooklyn, NY. He is an alumnus of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and of Teachers College–Columbia University. He heads the Jewish Professionals Institute dedicated to Jewish Adult Education and Outreach – Kiruv Rechokim. He was the Director of the Belzer Chasidim's Sinai Heritage Center of Manhattan 1988–1995, a Trustee of AJOP 1994 1994–1997 and the author of The Second World War and Jewish Education in America: The Fall and Rise of Orthodoxy.
Contact Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin at [email protected]