Thursday, July 10, 2025

Hypothesis & Evidence for Authoritarian Creep due to deployment of New Antisemitism Narrative

 

Hypothesis: 

As more prominent Israeli Jews—including politicians, international law experts, and former officials—publicly break with the government’s narrative on Gaza, the established hasbara line that Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism and that pro-Palestinian activists are "Hamas supporters"  is being fatally undermined. Currently that line serves as one of the key rationales for crackdowns on protesters, the defunding of UNRWA, and sanctions on even Israel's prestigious newspaper, Haaretz, which was accused of "supporting terrorists" and "harming legitimate state interests." This growing intra-Israeli and intra-Jewish dissent since May of 20025 includes condemnations of the conduct of Israel in its war in Gaza as war crimes and crimes against humanity made by such luminaries in Israel as ex-PM Ehud Olmert, Yair Golan and the international humanitarian lawyer that Israel sent to the ICJ in  2024 to defend  Israel against charges of genocide. Their  new charges include Olmert's  Haaretz article, "Enough is Enough.Israel is committing War Crimes," describes the war as an inexcusable "exterminationist" one, both illegal and immoral.  The very lawyer Israel sent to the World Court to defend it from charges of genocide and other war crimes and crimes against humanity co-authored an article in Haaretz and Just Security which holds that Israel is committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, not least of all by building a "concentration camp" which they are calling a "Humanitarian Camp" designed to ethnically cleanse Gaza.

These dramatic fissures in the erstwhile consensus that Israel is only defending itself, and the IDF is  "the world's   most moral army," threatens to expose the legal and moral bankruptcy of these justifications, increasing the likelihood that both US and Israeli authorities will resort to even more authoritarian, punitive, and extralegal tactics than they already have. These may include intensified deportations of peaceful protesters, further cutting funding of universities, direct interference in academic freedom (such as pressuring institutions like Columbia to alter their Middle East and North Africa programs), and expanded use of executive powers to silence dissent and suppress accountability efforts. The trajectory suggests a deepening erosion of democratic norms as the official narrative loses plausibility and internal critics multiply.

Evidence of Intensified Government Punitive Actions

Context: Fracturing of Israeli and International Legal Consensus

  • Major Israeli figures—politicians, IHL experts, and lawyers—have publicly broken with the government narrative on Gaza.

    • Eyal Benvenisti, former ICJ defender for Israel, now calls Israel’s “concentrate and move” order a “manifest war crime,” co-authoring a legal opinion demanding disobedience to such orders. He describes Israel's building of a "humanitarian camp" as a concentration camp, adding  "We believe it to be especially shameful given the only possible justification for Zionism: providing a shelter for people persecuted for their nationhood after being uprooted, concentrated and deported from their countries."

    • Ehud Olmert and Yair Golan have issued public statements and op-eds condemning Israeli policy, using terms like “exterminationist war” and “killing babies for sport.”

    • These are intra-Israeli and intra-Jewish rifts, not just between Israel and external critics. It is all but impossible to credibly blame "antisemitism" and Hamas suppor for these forceful condemnations of Israel's conduct in the war.

US Government Response: Escalating Punitive Measures

Sanctions Against International Justice Advocates

  • Francesca Albanese Sanctioned (July 2025):

    • The Trump administration imposed unprecedented sanctions on Albanese, accusing her of “lawfare” and “political warfare” for her ICC advocacy and calls for sanctions against Israel.

    • This is the first US sanctioning of a UN special rapporteur for pursuing accountability for Israeli war crimes.

    • The move followed earlier sanctions in June against four ICC judges and lead prosecutor Karim Khan, after ICC arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Activism and Academic Freedom

  • Deportations and Surveillance:

    • Since March 2025, the Trump administration has orchestrated arrests and deportations targeting international students and faculty involved in pro-Palestinian activism at US universities (Columbia, Harvard, UPenn, Cornell).

    • Federal agents formed a “Tiger Team” to investigate over 5,000 protesters, recommending visa revocations, detentions, and deportations—often without due process. Reportedly, the dossier came from Canary Mission--  an ill-reputed, far right, hardball organization with little transparency. (see my file on them).

    • High-profile cases: Mahmoud Khalil (Columbia), Rumeysa Ozturk (Tufts), both detained for extended periods without criminal allegations. Again, both names were on Canary Mission lists. (Ozturk's "crime" was penning an op-ed against the killing of untold numbers of  civilians in Gaza)

    • The crackdown and its chilling effect has led to widespread self-censorship among students and faculty.

  • Defunding and Congressional Pressure:

    • Congressional hearings led by Elise Stefanik have increased pressure on universities, with threats of defunding and accusations of “pro-Hamas” infiltration, despite lack of evidence.

    • Legislative threats have created a climate of fear, particularly targeting research universities.

Legal and Rhetorical Expansion of Punitive Tools

  • Executive Orders and Legislative Moves:

    • Executive orders have expanded sanctions to include ICC officials, legal professionals, academics, and activists deemed “anti-Israel.”

    • The Alien Enemies Act and related statutes have enabled summary detentions and deportations of non-citizens without due process.

Timeline of Key Actions Since May 2025

DateActionTarget(s)Source(s)
June 5, 2025Sanctions on four ICC judges after arrest warrants for Israeli leadersICC judgesUN News, Amnesty International
June 2025Intensified campus crackdowns, mass investigations, and detentionsPro-Palestinian students/facultyABC local affiliate, Amnesty International
July 9, 2025Sanctions on Francesca Albanese, UN Special RapporteurFrancesca AlbaneseUN News, Amnesty International, Middle East Eye, The Guardian, HRW
July 2025Federal trial begins over legality of campus crackdown and deportationsUniversity associations vs. USABC local affiliate, University Association press releases

Analysis: Authoritarian Creep and Erosion of Democratic Norms

  • There is a marked escalation in punitive, extralegal, and authoritarian measures by the US government since early May 2025, coinciding with the fracturing of Israeli legal and political consensus on Gaza.

  • These actions aim to silence dissent, deter legal accountability for Israeli and US officials, and suppress activism challenging the official narrative.

  • UN officials, human rights organizations, and legal scholars have condemned these measures as attacks on international justice, academic freedom, and the rule of law.

Sources

  • Just Security, “Our Duty to Explain Moving Gaza Population is Manifest War Crime,” Eyal Benvenisti & Chaim Gans, July 8, 2025

  • UN News reports on US sanctions against ICC officials and Francesca Albanese

  • UN Human Rights Council (OHCHR) statements, July 10, 2025

  • Amnesty International statements on US government actions against international justice advocates and campus activism

  • Human Rights Watch commentary by Liz Evenson, July 10, 2025

  • Amnesty International statements by Agnès Callamard, July 9, 2025

  • Middle East Eye coverage of Albanese’s report and sanctions, July 9, 2025

  • The Guardian coverage of US sanctions and Netanyahu’s Washington visit, July 10, 2025

  • ABC local affiliate reporting on University Association vs. US federal trial and campus crackdowns

  • University Association and faculty press releases regarding campus detentions and academic freedom

  • X posts (e.g., @Osint613, @Kredo0, @rcbregman) documenting sentiment and emerging trends

  • Albanese’s UN report, July 7, 2025

  • Op-eds and public statements by Ehud Olmert and Yair Golan

  • Reports and statements from Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations

 

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