All the World's a Stage as the Hague Puts Israel on Trial

When Shakespeare wrote that "all the world's a stage" over 400 years ago, he could not have imagined how we would see that truth in the form of Jew hatred today. I think that even the creator of Shylock would be shocked at the play that goes on about Israel. 

We see it daily: the hypocrisy of the United Nations, which has accused Israel of more crimes than all other countries combined, the disparity between what Israel’s “allies” in Europe and America say about the horrors of October 7 and how they actually act towards Israel when it seeks to defend itself from that evil, and even the hypocrisy of “Jewish” organizations and leaders more concerned with placating pro-Palestinian demonstrators than standing up for Jewish values and the Jewish people.

And now another “play” is being performed on the world stage this coming week, this time at The International Court of Justice in The Hague. South Africa has charged Israel with committing genocide in Gaza.   

The ironies abound. South Africa, which for decades practiced apartheid policies and persecuted its own people, is charging Israel, a nation conceived and dedicated to the respect of every human soul. The court itself is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, which has become a mouthpiece for Jew hatred and anti-Israel rhetoric for decades.  

The current 15 Justices on the ICJ include representatives from Lebanon, China, Somalia, Morocco, and the Russian Federation, among others—nations with a pre-established history of anti-Semitic patterns. The Chief Justice is an Obama appointee and has repeatedly demonstrated her anti-Israel views. But this body is now supposed to judge Israel for responding to the horrors that Hamas committed on October 7. These people are putting themselves as judges over Israel’s right to defend herself. They are going to act out a play whose theme is anti-Israel on a world stage: a kangaroo court as a show to castigate Israel.

Today, Israel announced the actor that they will be sending to court. Retired president of the Israel Supreme Court, Aharon Barak, will be defending Israel. An 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, he is a brilliant scholar but also the leader in interpreting Israel’s Basic Law as a Constitution. 

It was Barak who really pushed the idea during his presidency that the courts in Israel have power over the elected legislature, effectively making elections by the people subservient to the decisions of appointed judges. He was chosen for his legal brilliance and respect in the international community and also because he is anything but an ally of Netanyahu, who personally approved his selection.

Whatever Barak does or does not do, the odds are stacked heavily against him and Israel. It is anticipated that he will attempt to present footage of the depravities of October 7 from Hamas body cameras as well as other evidence supporting Israel’s actions in Gaza. Barak has been reviled by Israeli activists on both the left and the right, but both sides believe he is dedicated to Israel unconditionally and will serve the country well.

Are we seeing history repeat itself? It all feels familiar to those who are aware of the Disputations of Barcelona in 1263, where the royal court was to determine if Judaism was legitimate in not accepting Jesus as the Messiah. Despite the odds stacked against the Jews, represented by Nachmanides, the ultimate decision was a “draw." 

Nachmanides was so effective in his arguments that Jewish theology was accepted as legitimate even by the panel of Catholic judges, so much so that King James I awarded Nachmanides 300 gold coins, declared that never before had he heard "an unjust cause so nobly defended,” and attended and spoke at a Shabbat service in the Barcelona synagogue, where he addressed the congregation… a thing unheard of in that time period.

We can only hope that Barak will be at least as successful as Nachmanides almost 700 years ago. The court is stacked, the world’s public opinion is waiting to convict Israel, and the terrorists are waiting for justification for their actions. 

May Aharon Barak find the strength, wisdom, and tools needed to change the preformed judgment of this court, and may the world clearly see the evil of Hamas and the need for its entire and total destruction.