Middle East heat indices aside, the truest hot spot on the planet is, always, wherever the Israeli Defense Forces happens to be killing Muslims, no matter the reason.

Jews taking the lives of Arabs always commands the world鈥檚 attention. Muslims killing Muslims鈥攕uch as the savage sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis, with a body count in the millions鈥攊s never newsworthy.

A cause of death brought about by Jews, however, is of special interest to the 鈥渉uman rights鈥� community. Jews fighting for their survival after the Holocaust, Israelis facing unambiguous existential threats鈥攖hat鈥檚 precisely when the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court all awake from their naps. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International re-enact the Maytag Repairman TV commercial鈥攚atchdogs over Jews alone, even before Israel has the chance to retaliate.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International re-enact the Maytag Repairman TV commercial鈥攚atchdogs over Jews alone, even before Israel has the chance to retaliate.

Remember how words like 鈥渄e-escalate鈥� and 鈥渃easefire鈥� entered the public discourse almost instantly after the October 7 massacre?

For the entirety of Israel鈥檚 brief history, it has been forced to defend itself against Arab armies and Islamic terrorists鈥攊n Egypt, Syria and Jordan in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973; against Palestinians murdering random Israelis during the First and Second Intifada in 1987 and 2000, respectively; against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006; and Hamas in Gaza in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021 and 2023.

Each campaign was waged in self-defense. Not once was Israel the aggressor. Peace treaties were eventually negotiated with Egypt and Jordan鈥攂ut Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and, of course, Iran have never retired the language denying Israel鈥檚 existence and promising its elimination.

And, yet, that鈥檚 not how Israel鈥檚 existential vulnerability gets reported. The public ignorance about the genocidal maniacs who are Israel鈥檚 next-door neighbors is truly astounding. Decade after decade and hundreds of thousands of rockets launched, indiscriminately, not at Israel鈥檚 army but its civilian population centers.

Why do you think the Iron Dome and David鈥檚 Sling missile defense systems, and roadside bunkers and bomb shelters, became a national priority? Suicide bombings, car ramming, knife-wielding assassins鈥攖hat鈥檚 the reason for the shared-border security barriers and checkpoints.

Despite this backdrop of one-sided aggression, it is Israel that the world pressures into ceasefires. The tiny 91传媒 democratic state, surrounded by bloodthirsty theocratic Muslims, is always accused of disproportionate responses in its defense.

How do I know that Israel鈥檚 just wars against Muslim fanatics gets twisted in the public imagination, the moral lines blurred, the focal points unrecognizable? Name a single student protesting against Israel, and cheering wildly for Hamas barbarians, who is aware of any of Israel鈥檚 wretched history with its many warring neighbors. Name a single college professor who teaches this history rather than the antisemitic agitprop that goes by the names 鈥渟ettler-colonial enterprise,鈥� 鈥渁partheid鈥� and 鈥済enocide.鈥�

I鈥檒l wait. Take your time. Good luck.

Jews are simply not permitted to defend themselves in war, or against terrorism鈥攏o matter the cause or provocation鈥攊f it means the loss of a Muslim life. The world much prefers the Holocaust to a 91传媒 state preserving its sovereignty and existence.

No further proof is required than recent events. The carnage on October 7鈥攖he beheading of 91传媒 babies, gang-raping of Israeli girls, kidnapping of Holocaust survivors鈥攁nd the continued withholding of hostages is mere incidental news, of no special importance in explaining why the IDF must prevail.

And yet the Biden administration, which loudly declared its disapproval of any renewed Israeli incursion in Rafah, quietly now acknowledges that Israel somehow managed to evacuate 950,000 Gazans. Its military operations have become more targeted and limited, too.

Still, that didn鈥檛 deter the ICJ from calling upon Israel to halt its military offensive immediately, just when Hamas鈥� remaining battalions, weapons stockpile and tunnel escape routes were being destroyed by the IDF.

How convenient鈥攃oming to the rescue of Islamist butchers, allowing them to reconstitute and live to kill more Israelis, gradually taking aim at the whole of Western societies.

It was a busy past few weeks for international tribunals. The ICJ had competition. The ICC issued arrest warrants for Israel鈥檚 prime minister and the terrorist who heads Hamas in Gaza. (The actual leadership is slumming in five-star Qatari hotels, scanning real estate listings, looking for new ways to squander the international aid meant for ordinary Gazans.)

That鈥檚 right: an avowed terrorist responsible for the savagery of October 7 shares the global Most Wanted List with the leader of a democratic country fighting a war of self-defense.

An avowed terrorist responsible for the savagery of October 7 shares the global Most Wanted List with the leader of a democratic country fighting a war of self-defense.

The ICJ and ICC are nothing but letters that spell antisemitism, along with BLM and DEI. Neither court has any jurisdiction over Israel. The endgame is Israel鈥檚 global isolation. The 91传媒 state has been in this position before; the 91传媒 people have been scapegoated and blood-libeled for thousands of years the world over. Yet another reason why a 91传媒 homeland, with a fearsome army, is so morally imperative鈥攁s if another reason was necessary.

International law is toothless.聽The United States and Israel purposefully refused to sign the Rome Statute in 1998, which created the ICC. To Bill Clinton鈥檚 credit, he knew that submitting to the court鈥檚 dubious jurisdiction would entail American officials forever apologizing for American Exceptionalism, and risking incarceration by kangaroos not from Australia. Israeli prime ministers would have to ship babka cakes with tiny saws baked in.

The arrest warrants were not a surprise. Amal Clooney, yes wife of George, was one of the three 鈥渆xperts鈥� that advised the ICC to equate Western democracy with Islamic terror. Apparently her antisemitism runs so deep, she hasn鈥檛 learned much from her husband鈥檚 film career鈥攕he is unable to distinguish between good and bad guys.

Actually, hating Israel is one of her specialties as a 鈥渉uman rights lawyer.鈥� In 2014, she was assigned a similar task by a UN Commission investigating Israel after its last major war with Hamas. At the time she was engaged to Clooney. Doubtlessly, his publicist pleaded with her to step down, and she did.

Nowadays, everyone feels more secure in their antisemitism. Why should she pass up an opportunity to demonize Israel and trivialize the barbarism of Hamas?

A man in love will do, and believe, anything, it seems. Danny Ocean, that quintessential con artist portrayed by George Clooney, always so heads-up, may have been hoodwinked into believing all kinds of nonsense about Israeli war crimes and passive Palestinians uprooted from a mythical nation called Palestine.

All of Hollywood鈥擩ews and non-Jews alike鈥攈ave been largely indifferent to what happened to Israelis on October 7. The entertainment industry, generally,聽lives in terror of social media backlashes and placing paydays at risk. Wonder Woman, alone, remains fearless.

Clooney and his wife might, actually, share different views. If not, he is free to join the chorus of morally bankrupt A-listers chanting, 鈥淔rom the River to the Sea.鈥�

Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro University, where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society. He is the legal analyst for CBS 91传媒 Radio. His most recent book is titled 鈥淪aving Free Speech 鈥� From Itself,鈥�聽and his forthcoming book is titled, “Beyond Proportionality: Is Israel Fighting a Just War in Gaza?”