Israel is a pariah state. Now what?

Israel's decision to invade Rafah leaves it increasingly isolated on the international stage.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's regime is adamant on attacking the last bastion of Palestinian refuge, insisting it is the key to winning the war with Hamas. But this has caused some of Israel's closest allies to turn their backs despite previously supporting its genocidal machinery.

The global castigation comes amid Israel's seizure of the Rafah border with Egypt, its evacuation orders for approximately 1.2 million Palestinians crammed into a city of 25 square miles and its advances that have crippled Rafah's medical facilities.

Amid all this, the message from the international community has been clear - moving into Rafah makes Israel an outlier and unworthy of support. Israel used to be viewed in the Western world as a so-called democratic and civilised country, facing an existential threat and having a right to defend itself.

All that has changed.

US stops arms shipments

Last week, Israel's closest ally and primary benefactor, the United States, distanced itself from the Netanyahu regime. The Biden administration, which was previously unequivocal in its support for Israel, announced that it would refuse to supply certain weapons shipments to the country amid its Rafah incursion.

This is despite previously committing $38 billion in annual military aid which was anchored in a 10-year memorandum of understanding reached with Israel in 2016. The aid will no doubt still go to Israel, but this decision to temporarily suspend some weapon shipments is a notable first.

The Biden administration's decision follows in the footsteps of former President Ronald Reagan, who leveraged military aid to stop Israel from attacking Palestinian fighters in Lebanon in 1982. Back then, Reagan withheld warplanes and cluster munitions bound for Israel until it ceased attacking Lebanese territory.

In 2024, however, the strategy carries new weight, as it stands in sharp contrast to years of official US narrative building which projected Israel as a liberal democracy facing an existential threat from Hamas since 1987, and having an inalienable right to defend itself as a state born from the ashes of the Holocaust in 1948.

While US support for Israel on eliminating Hamas remains the same, low enthusiasm from Washington on a Rafah invasion marks a serious blow to the Netanyahu regime.

European and Asian allies follow suit

Many European countries have also denounced Israel's Rafah attack, including Germany, Slovenia, Finland and Belgium, all of whom enjoy sound bilateral economic, political and military ties with Israel.

EU member states Ireland and Spain have also set a date to formally recognise Palestinian statehood. Meanwhile, protestors recently stormed the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden over Israel's participation in the event.

The diplomatic isolation doesn't stop there.

Some of Israel's closest allies and states which have forged bilateral relations with it in Asia, including signatories to the 2020 Abraham Accords, have been quick to express concern, condemnation and disapproval of Israel's decision to attack Rafah.

The city state of Singapore for example, which has enjoyed cordial and friendly relations with Israel for more than half a century, last week voted in favour of a UN resolution supporting full Palestinian membership.

Officials stated that they were deeply concerned with the ongoing Israeli offensive in Rafah, which will worsen the existing humanitarian situation and add to the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Such rare concern from Singapore comes despite bilateral trade between the two countries totaling $3.8 billion in 2023.

Similarly, signatories to the Abraham Accords such as the United Arab Emirates and Egypt also issued strong condemnations of the ongoing Israeli offensive. Egypt has even joined South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Collectively, the United Nations General Assembly also backed the Palestinian bid to become a full member UN state by recognising its qualifications and recommending that the United Nations Security Council reconsider the matter favourably. The resolution passed with 74 percent of member states voting in favour, with nine voting against (including Israel and the United States), and 25 abstaining.

Yet despite the UN resolution and mass international outcry and condemnation of Israel from some of its staunchest allies, the Netanyahu regime remains defiant.

Standing alone

In response to global criticism, Netanyahu said Israel will stand alone in its war against Hamas, which is an acknowledgment of his country's growing isolation on Rafah. Israeli defiance comes after months of boycotts and campus protests, as well as criticism from UN rights experts.

Now as its traditional allies call out the Netanyahu regime for its insensitivity towards attacking Rafah, Israel remains unmoved as the city becomes a major part of its strategic calculus.

There has been no letup in attacks in Rafah which have continued with impunity and no sign that Israel is willing to change course and align itself with international opinion.

This marks a clear departure from the past. Israel has constantly touted itself as a civilised country and its war with Hamas as a war between the ‘civilised’ and the ‘uncivilised.

It has promoted the notion that its foundation is anchored in democratic norms with a legitimate right to defend itself against a barbaric threat from Palestine which warrants international support.

This notion of a so-called democratic state however, has coincided with the proliferation of illegal settlements on Palestinian lands, a deeply entrenched occupation and the denial of the inalienable Palestinian right to return.

Narratives in certain Western media outlets have also prevented Israel’s duplicity from becoming part of public discourse, yet the attack on Rafah and the ensuing condemnation from the international community has exposed it to the core.

Israel has become a pariah state and should be dealt with accordingly. Israeli defiance indicates that the Netanyahu regime will continue to ignore international consensus, UNGA resolutions, international humanitarian law and the concerns of some of its staunchest allies by attacking Rafah.

This leaves no doubt that Israel deserves to be sanctioned, tried for crimes against humanity and economically boycotted.

The global response to Israel's attacks on Rafah and its clear pariah status indicates that the myth of a democratic Israel defending itself against aggression has been well and truly busted.