Stepwise erosion of Israel’s global legitimacy post-October 7

Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which many historians have compared to the Warsaw ghetto uprising against the Nazi Germany, has changed everything except one thing: Israel’s penchant for mass slaughter.

In hindsight, as Gaza war completes one year, a significant shift has taken place at a global stage - despite Tel Aviv having the blessings of the US-led Western bloc, it has lost support and solidarity from a large number of countries, with many global leaders describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as a textbook case of genocide.

“Israel has suffered significant reputational setbacks due to the overwhelming evidence of its atrocities, often gleefully acknowledged by its soldiers or leaders,” according to Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing.

Rajagopal tells TRT World that Israel has also lost moral legitimacy, which lies at the core of its global narrative. Citing legal setbacks at the ICJ and ICC, he says that there is a strong sentiment against Israel at the UN General Assembly.

The unprecedented surprise attack on October 7 quickly dismantled Israel’s carefully-crafted image of being an unparalleled military power in the Middle East, and resurfaced the question of years of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

Now that 365 days have passed, Israel continues to be unhinged despite killing over 41,000 Palestinians, destroying much of Gaza and taking the war to Lebanon and Syria in constant violation of international laws and norms.

“The Global South is especially driving this sentiment. While Israeli leaders may dismiss these setbacks, these institutions represent the overwhelming mass of humanity and global public opinion is clearly against its extreme policies and actions,” says Rajagopal, who is a Professor of Law and Development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Collapse of Israel’s narrative

Ever since carving out a state on what was Palestinian land, Israel has almost always justified its brutalities and military misdemeanours as acts of self-defence. And central to this narrative is Hasbara, a propaganda tool that manipulates global perceptions to avoid accountability for committing mass violence in Palestine and beyond.

From depicting Palestinians as aggressors to downplaying its own role in committing mass slaughter, Israel has invented various methods of manipulation to extend its occupation of Palestinian territories.

As a result, Western leadership has gone soft on Tel Aviv for the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, allowing the Israeli state to shift the blame for civilian casualties onto Hamas by simply accepting unfounded claims – such as the assertion that the Palestinian resistance group uses civilians as ‘human shields’ in schools, hospitals, and neighbourhoods.

In the last 12 months of the Gaza war, however, Hasbara has failed to deceive the global community on the scale that, in previous years, allowed Israeli crimes against Palestinians go unnoticed, undercutting global outrage.

Andrea Maria Pelliconi, an Assistant Professor in Human Rights Law at the University of Southampton emphasises that Israel’s inability to align with international standards and human rights has led to a serious reputational decline, especially outside Western countries.

“Israel's reputation in non-Western countries has dramatically worsened. Non-aligned nations, even at the governmental level, increasingly view Israel as a serial violator of international law and human rights,” Pelliconi tells TRT World.

Israel’s genocidal actions that legacy media outlets in the West could no longer downplay, thanks to social media, has sparked a global awakening to the history of Israeli occupation and persecution endured by Palestinians.

“We are witnessing a global response to Israel’s activities, and the West is becoming increasingly isolated in its failure to acknowledge and understand this situation,” Pelliconi says.

Israel’s dehumanising language against Palestinians, such as calling them 'less human' or 'human-animals' – a rhetoric Israeli lawmakers openly used to justify their occupation and violence – has been rendered ineffective in the past 12 months.

Although Israel has been occupying the Palestinian territories since 1967, never before has there been a global awareness on a mass scale like that seen in the past 12 months, with solidarity protests erupting in several Western capitals and around the world, pushing political boundaries on the question of Palestinian freedom to new margins.

A pariah state

Israel’s industrial-scale violence in Gaza and beyond has led many countries to label it a pariah state, an outcast in international affairs.

Pelliconi says the growing dissatisfaction with Israel was evident during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent speech at the 79th UNGA, where a large number of global representatives walked out in protest as the Zionist leader spoke from the podium.

The sight of the emptying hall was a strong testament to Israel’s growing isolation on the global stage as well as slow but steady recognition of Palestine as a state facing an existential threat from Tel Aviv.

“We’ve seen steps toward the recognition of Palestine as a state. Its recent admission to the UN General Assembly, though without voting rights, is a historic first. Despite being blocked from full membership by UN Security Council vetoes, this development is a major success,” Pelliconi says.

“This recognition of Palestine among other states directly relates to Israel’s reputational damage. It has prompted more countries—particularly, but not exclusively, in the non-Western hemisphere—to recognise Palestine as a sovereign entity with the right to self-determination over its land,” she explains.

Meanwhile, political turmoil within Israel is intensifying. Netanyahu, already a divisive figure and facing arrest warrants from the ICC for the carnage in Gaza, has become a symbol of widespread discontent.

A vast number of Israelis are questioning Netanyahu’s mishandling of the events shaped by the October 7 attacks.

“Israel has not managed to point to a clear victory over its enemies nor in creating conditions which will make life more peaceful for its own citizens. The conflict has stoked the fire instead of putting it out,” UN Special Rapporteur Rajagopal emphasises.

End of Israeli exceptionalism?

For the first time, institutions like the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have taken strong positions, holding Israel accountable for the massacres it has committed in Gaza in the past 12 months. International law experts have pointed out that the development can’t be brushed aside as a mere symbolic move since it could lead to severe consequences for the current Israeli leadership.

The ICJ’s long-awaited advisory opinion in July stated that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands is a clear violation of international law, while reiterating Palestinians' right to self-determination, including the right to return and reparations and restitution.

“If we consider the ICJ advisory opinion, it clearly outlines the obligations of third countries. There are practical steps other states can and should take to comply with international law. These developments are definite successes for Palestine and for its recognition as a state.”

Pelliconi argues that these measures already have some influence.

“Germany, for example, has halted the export of heavy weaponry to Israel since Nicaragua initiated legal proceedings against Germany earlier this year. While that case may face procedural challenges, the recourse to international justice mechanisms is already yielding positive outcomes.”

“This alone should be seen as a success,” she says.

As Tel Aviv is facing genocide case at the ICJ, calls for the arrests of several Israeli leaders have grown louder.

Earlier in September, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan urged the court's Pre-Trial Chamber to issue arrest warrants "with utmost urgency" for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Khan announced that the court sought these warrants on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in May.

“I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine from at least October 8, 2023.”

"The ICJ ruling on the legality of the occupation of Palestine was historic and monumental, marking a clear victory for justice and a triumph for Palestinian rights," Rajagopal highlights.

He notes that the ICJ case on genocide, initiated by South Africa, and the actions requested by the ICC prosecutor against Israeli leaders are significant, though the final outcomes may take considerable time to emerge.