ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM and Hamas officials for war crimes

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Written by Bethan McKernan | The Guardian Bethan McKernan | The Guardian

Published: 20 May 2024 20 May 2024

The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has said he is seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, a move that puts the post-second world war rules-based order to the test and presents new challenges for Israel’s western allies.

Karim Khan said his office had applied to the world court’s pre-trial chamber for arrest warrants for the military and political leaders on both sides for crimes committed during Hamas’s 7 October attack and the ensuing war in Gaza. 

He named Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip, and Mohammed Deif, the commander of its military wing, considered to be the masterminds of the 7 October assault, as well as Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the group’s political bureau, who is based in Qatar, as wanted for crimes of extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape, sexual assault and torture.

Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, the denial of humanitarian relief supplies and deliberately targeting civilians.

“The world was shocked on 7 October when people were ripped from their homes, from their bedrooms in different kibbutzim … people have suffered enormously,” Khan told CNN on Monday. “We have a variety of evidence to support the applications we’ve submitted to the judges.”

“These acts demand accountability,” Khan’s office said in a statement.

The ICC has previously issued warrants for Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, but no leader of a “western-style” democracy has ever been issued a warrant. The court has moved remarkably quickly, by its usual standards, to request warrants within eight months; the case against Putin over his invasion of Ukraine took a year to build.

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As Maxine Dexter Touts Progressive Values, Conservative Donors are Flooding Her Campaign Coffers

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Written by TAYLOR GRIGGS | Portland Mercury TAYLOR GRIGGS | Portland Mercury

Published: 18 May 2024 18 May 2024

Over the past two weeks, it’s become clear that Maxine Dexter’s campaign to represent Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District in the United States House has been the beneficiary of millions in donations from political action committees (PACs) with unknown contributors. 

Dexter’s campaign has also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent contributions from individual, out-of-state donors—many of whom have donated to Republican candidates and pro-Israel groups in the past. Millions in PAC money has gone toward mailer ads attacking Susheela Jayapal, Dexter’s top opponent in the race. 

Jayapal and Eddy Morales, another candidate in the race, have both spoken out strongly against the recent flood of donations. Jayapal and Morales—along with dozens of Portland voters—say Dexter hasn’t condemned the dark money spending strongly enough. 

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Israel’s Meddling in US Politics Is Aggressive and Unceasing

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Written by BRANKO MARCETIC | Jacobin BRANKO MARCETIC | Jacobin

Published: 18 May 2024 18 May 2024

For all the periodic meltdowns about foreign interference in US elections and politics by countries like Russia, it’s actually Israel, a nominal ally, that has done far more meddling in American politics — with far more influence.

The fact is that Israeli political meddling in the United States has gone from an open secret in Washington to more-or-less public knowledge nationwide under Netanyahu’s leadership — something complained about by media commentators, US officials, intelligence officers, and prominent Jewish public figures. More and more, this political interference is not so much linked back to the Israeli government as a whole but to its most right-wing factions. And its scale, frequency, and power far outdo the meddling of any other foreign power, making Israel, in practice, closer to an adversarial state than a friendly one.

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Dark Money Casts a Shadow on Maxine Dexter’s Campaign

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Written by KEVIN FOSTER | Portland Mercury KEVIN FOSTER | Portland Mercury

Published: 14 May 2024 14 May 2024

In one of Oregon’s most progressive congressional districts, anonymous super PAC money and tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza have taken the spotlight.

As a wave of nearly $3 million in dark money enters Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District race, voters are questioning the donors backing Maxine Dexter’s campaign, and whether the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is among them.

A political action committee (PAC) known as 314 Action Fund, has spent  $1.67 million to support Dexter's campaign. Dexter is a current state representative now seeking election to Congress. The PAC claims its mission is to elect Democrats with a background in science. 

While Dexter is a physician, this level of spending on one candidate is unprecedented for 314. 

The money trail came under heightened scrutiny late last week, after The Intercept reported on claims from two anonymous Democratic members of Congress who say AIPAC was discreetly funneling money through 314 to target Susheela Jayapal’s campaign in favor of Dexter. 

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