– These are well-known tactics from Israel, says general secretary Raymond Johansen of Norwegian People’s Aid to NTB.
He has a past as state secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then worked a lot on the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians.
The day after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague opened an investigation into Israel for possible genocide against the Palestinians, the Israeli government claimed that several employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) had participated in the Hamas attack on 7 October.
As a result of the accusation, a number of countries froze their support for UNRWA, despite the fact that Israel did not provide any evidence. The UN launched an investigation, and the conclusion is clear.
– To date, the Israeli authorities have not presented evidence to support the accusations, state the investigators led by France’s former foreign minister Catherine Colonna.
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Not surprised
Professor and Middle East expert Hilde Henriksen Waage is not surprised and calls Israel’s terror accusation against UNRWA an obvious diversionary maneuver. It is not the first time they have succeeded in this, she believes.
– Israel has for decades pursued a very smart and cynical policy, says Waage to NTB.
– As a historian, I have seen it repeatedly, for example in connection with peace negotiations and ceasefire negotiations, she says.
Sometimes they have slowed down or stopped negotiations by liquidating Palestinian leaders, other times by carrying out military actions that have sufficiently provoked the other party.
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– During negotiations, they have on a number of occasions also come up with proposals which apparently intend to achieve a peaceful solution, but which in reality intend to thwart, change and destroy solutions which are then actually in the process of being negotiated, says Scale.
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Clear example
Middle East expert and senior researcher Jørgen Jensehaugen at the Institute for Peace Research (Prio) in Oslo does not want to conclude that there is a pattern.
– But the accusations against UNRWA, I think, were a fairly clear example of such a diversionary maneuver. There the timing was absolutely impeccable, he says to NTB.
– Especially since the investigation report now shows that Israel has not even bothered to present evidence to support the accusations, he says.
NTB has asked Israel’s ambassador to Norway, Avi Nir-Feldklein, for a comment, but has not received a reply to the inquiry.
Increasing criticism
Criticism of Israel’s warfare in the Gaza Strip has increased in recent months, also from unusual quarters.
The Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, himself a Jew and a sworn supporter of Israel, set the tone when he said in March that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace in the Middle East.
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The fact that President Joe Biden described Schumer’s speech as good caused a stir.
A few weeks later, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is also a Democrat, accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
The criticism has also been harsh from several other Democrats.
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Attack embassy
On April 1, six rockets from Israeli F-35 aircraft destroyed parts of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital. 16 people were killed in the attack, including seven officers in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
This attack garnered little international criticism and was not condemned by the UN Security Council.
Iran immediately made it clear that it would respond, and on 13 April the country fired around 300 rockets and drones at Israel.
Most of it was shot down over Iraq and Jordan, and the damage in Israel was minimal. The international condemnations were nevertheless massive, and at the same time criticism of Gaza quieted down.
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Seize the chance
– Israel seized the opportunity to continue the bombing. More than 40 places in Rafah were reported to have been hit within a day, notes Johansen, who describes Israel’s use of violence as extreme.
Norwegian People’s Aid is very concerned that Israel will use the Iranian attack “or other diversionary maneuvers” to send ground forces into Rafah, he says.
– The persistent gross violations of international humanitarian law must end, not be hidden, Johansen states.
Not surprised
Waage was not surprised by the Israeli attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus.
– Most people are quite apathetic and have forgotten that since 1996 Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to get the rest of the world to understand that Iran is the main enemy, she says.
This is to prevent a rapprochement between the West and Iran, and to get the Palestinians’ cause off the international agenda, Waage believes.
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The Iranian response to the embassy attack undoubtedly contributed to dampening criticism of Israel in the US, where, after six months of resistance, Congress recently agreed to grant an additional NOK 100 billion in arms support to the country.
Hardly quiet
Jensehaugen still does not believe that criticism of Israel’s warfare will subside anytime soon in the United States.
– I think this has to do with two things. One is how extreme Israeli warfare actually is. That there is a famine in Gaza and that Israel is obviously not letting in enough aid, he says.
– The other perspective is that there is now a concrete disagreement within the Democratic Party, between the grassroots and the elite in their view of the Gaza war and Israel. There is now considerable pressure from below on President Joe Biden, which really challenges his ability to win the election this autumn, says Jensehaugen.
– We have never before seen the Democratic Party so divided. Young voters want a much more nuanced Israel policy and we see how they demonstrate and shout slogans against Biden, notes Waage.
