A War Criminal Comes to New York

The prime minister will make all the familiar excuses for the attacks on Lebanon, but very few governments are going to believe what he says.

The war criminal leader of a dangerous rogue state is coming to speak to the UN General Assembly this week. The AP reports:

But Netanyahu arrives at the United Nations this week at a time when his own diplomatic capital and legitimacy, as well as that of the country he represents, are at a low. Critics say that aside from a moment in the spotlight, it’s not clear what Netanyahu will achieve with the visit.

“He is a great believer in speechmaking,” said Tal Schneider, an Israeli political commentator. “He thinks that if he delivers a speech in English, he can convince people in the justness of his ways,” she said, adding that that demonstrated he was “disconnected from reality.”

It is shameful that Netanyahu will be permitted to speak at the UN while his government’s forces are slaughtering civilians in both Gaza and Lebanon. We can expect that he will deliver another one of his dishonest propaganda speeches just days after Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon killed over 550 people in one day on Monday. The death toll from this week’s airstrikes is already half of the total Lebanese casualties for the entire 2006 war. If a ground invasion follows, as now seems increasingly likely, the ensuing devastation and displacement will be an unmitigated disaster for the people of Lebanon.