Why is Netanyahu still walking free, and not in court facing the ICC charges against him? When he visits New York City later this month, the United States should act on the ICC warrant and arrest him—it’s what justice mandates.
If you earnestly believe that “Palestinians” or “Hamas” are why we do not have peace in Palestine and Israel—this article is for you. Because the documented, sourced, on-the-record evidence leads, inescapably, to one man as the source of the conflict—at least spanning over the last 30 years: Benjamin Netanyahu.
A man who belongs not in the Prime Minister’s office but in a prison cell—as the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for him attests. Let’s Address This.
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Fact One: Netanyahu Funded Hamas
Yes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu funded Hamas. This is not speculation. None other than The Times of Israel reported this on October 8, 2023—the day after the October 7 attacks—based on years of documented Israeli policy.
As the Times of Israel reported, Netanyahu’s own Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in 2015 that keeping Hamas in power in Gaza served Israeli political interests. And as multiple Israeli sources confirmed, Netanyahu made a similar argument at a Likud faction meeting in early 2019—saying that those who oppose a Palestinian state should support transferring funds to Gaza, because maintaining the separation between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu did not want Hamas destroyed. He wanted Hamas empowered—specifically to undermine the Palestinian Authority and eliminate the possibility of a two-state solution. He funded the organization whose attack he now uses to justify a genocide. If any ordinary person funded Hamas, they’d be thrown in prison for aiding and abetting what the US and Israel has labeled a terrorist group. Why does Netanyahu get to walk free despite funding that same group?
Fact Two: Netanyahu Was Warned of October 7—And Did Nothing
Multiple outlets, including the New York Times, have confirmed that Netanyahu and Israeli intelligence received warnings of the October 7 attack well in advance. Yes, Benjamin Netanyahu was briefed. No, he did not act. In fat, the most recent reporting from the New York Times confirms that the UAE leader warned Netanyahu again mere days before October 7 that Hamas was planning a major attack. Rather than take any precautionary measures, Netanyahu did nothing with the information.
All the billions in military aid that our tax dollars fund, all the spy and clandestine tools at their disposal, all the clear warnings that an attack was coming—and Netanyahu sat on his hands. This isn’t just incompetence, it’s malice.
And worse, the malice and cruelty of Netanyahu’s actions don’t stop here.
When the 10/7 attack began—as forewarned—Netanyahu was briefed immediately. He then knowingly waited nearly four hours before ordering an IDF response.
Four hours.
Think about the suffering and terror he enabled by refusing to act immediately. What sane head of state hears of an attack on their nation’s sovereignty—”the worst attack since the Holocaust” as Netanyahu himself reminds us—and does nothing for nearly four hours?
And yet, it gets even worse.
As Haaretz reported, when the IDF did respond, it issued the Hannibal Directive—a controversial military protocol that, in effect, prioritizes preventing the capture of Israeli soldiers and civilians—by killing them—over their rescue. The directive’s application on October 7 has been the subject of extensive Israeli investigative journalism and remains one of the most damning elements of the Israeli government’s conduct on that day.
Netanyahu is now threatening to sue Haaretz for reporting what the UAE warned him. You do not sue for defamation when the reporting is false. You sue to silence the truth.
Fact Three: Hamas Offered to Release the Hostages. Netanyahu Said No.
This is perhaps the most devastating fact in this entire piece—and it is almost entirely absent from American corporate media coverage. I’ve written on this extensively over the past three years.
Immediately after October 7, Hamas offered the full release of all civilian hostages with no conditions, except securing a mutually agreed-upon mediator to end the conflict. Israel rejected the offer flat out. Netanyahu would not even discuss it.
Hamas made clear to Israeli negotiators back in 2024, in writing, that they have no desire to continue to control Gaza and will leave—but it is Netanyahu who continues to break ceasefires and refuses deals to have the hostages returned.
Do not take Hamas’ word for it. Don’t even take my word for it. Take the word of the people closest to this catastrophe.
These are facts that the hostage families attest to, that Israeli hostage negotiators attest to, that Netanyahu’s own Israeli generals attest to, that the US Government attests to, that the UN Security Council attests to. Everyone agreed to hostage release without further bloodshed—except Netanyahu.
The families of the hostages themselves have stated publicly that Netanyahu is responsible for their loved ones remaining in captivity. At their weekly media conference, family members demanded he end the war.
As reported by Haaretz and numerous outlets, Efrat Machikawa, the relative of freed hostage Gadi Moses, said: “Netanyahu is misleading and deceiving the public at the expense of the lives of our hostages.”
Yotam Cohen, the brother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, was even more direct:
An entire nation has been deceived. They tell us that military pressure will bring the hostages back, when in fact all it does is kill them. The longer this war drags on, the more living hostages lose their lives. The blood of every hostage taken alive returning in a body bag is on Netanyahu’s hands.
Israel’s own hostage negotiating team has confirmed the same. According to Kan public broadcaster, sources involved in the ongoing talks accused Netanyahu of intentionally sabotaging the negotiations after he told a hawkish political forum that “Israel won’t leave the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor under any circumstances.”
One source said:
Netanyahu’s statement is intended to blow up the negotiations, there’s no other way about it. The prime minister knows that we are in a critical period during which we’re working on solutions for the Philadelphi Corridor and Netzarim ahead of the next summit. He knows there is progress—and then he puts out statements that are the opposite of what was agreed upon with the mediators.
These are not the actions of an innocent man—but a man complicit in war crimes and genocide. That is Netanyahu.
So Who Do Palestinians Negotiate With?
Palestinians are told to negotiate for peace. With whom?
With a man who funded Hamas.
Who ignored advance warnings of the October 7 attack.
Who waited four hours to respond when it came.
Who ordered the Hannibal Directive.
Who rejected a full hostage release immediately after the attack.
Whose own negotiating team says he is intentionally sabotaging peace talks.
Whose own generals say he is operating against their military advice.
Whose own allies’ families say the blood of hostages is on his hands.
Who has killed at least 1000 more Palestinians in Gaza since the “ceasefire” deal.
And who the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes.
This is who Palestinians are called to negotiate with?
Any honest person can see that Netanyahu—not Palestinians—is the obstacle to peace. He is not a partner for negotiation. He is an obstructionist and a mass murderer. He is a war criminal with an ICC arrest warrant, using the suffering of Israeli hostages and the genocide of Palestinian civilians as instruments of his own political survival. And it is a shame that both Democratic and Republican administrations continue to protect him.
Netanyahu belongs in prison. The ICC agrees. The ICJ agrees. And the mountain of evidence compiled by his own allies, his own negotiators, his own generals, the families of his own hostages, the US government, and the UN Security Council leaves no honest space for any other conclusion.
The ICC Warrant Is Not the End. It Is the Beginning.
The ICC’s arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu is historic. But it is just the first step. While it establishes on an international front that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute him for war crimes and crimes against humanity—it is not self executing.
No warrant is.
An arrest warrant is only meaningful if it is enforced. And enforcement requires political will from governments—including the United States government—that have spent decades shielding Israel from exactly this kind of accountability. So, when Netanyahu arrives in New York City later this month, he should be arrested upon arrival and handed over to the ICC for prosecution. He deserves due process, nothing more, nothing less.
But sadly, the Trump White House will do no such thing. To be sure, the Biden White House would not have acted either. The irony is that the US Government helped establish the ICC, and the ICC would not have been established without the US Government leading the way. And now that same US Government entity does not find the courage to do what is right—arrest a credibly accused war criminal and force him to stand trial for the charges made against him.
Corporate media will likewise continue to capitulate to Netanyahu and his fascism. And this yet another reason your support of Let’s Address This and independent media is so important. As a human rights lawyer, I am accountable to you—not to lobbyists, governments, or corporate interested. Human rights must uphold absolute justice, and that is precisely what we will always demand.
The receipts are in. The question is no longer what happened. The question is what do we do about it? And the answer begins with saying clearly, publicly, and without qualification: Netanyahu is a war criminal. He belongs before the ICC. And the genocide must end now.
Qasim Rashid is a human rights attorney, author, and host of Let’s Address This—a platform dedicated to human rights, international accountability, and the journalism that corporate media refuses to deliver. Subscribe, share, and let’s remain relentless in our mission for a more perfect Union.
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As a subscriber to Haaretz and organizations that are peace seeking in both Israel and the US, I sadly knew about Netanyahu’s warpath.
It breaks my Jewish heart that still too many Americans, especially in my Boomer cohort, support Israel no matter what. Leading the pack of shame is Senator Schumer. I have emailed and sent him snail mail letters reminding him to follow the Torah (Old Testament). “Justice, Justice you shall pursue.”
This week my communication to Sen. Schumer is to fully use the Jewish New Year, as we are asked to do, to self reflect and consider how we can be a more positive contributor to a just society, and to do our part to heal the many fissures in our world.
Absolutely. Note how Team D and Team R alike ignore this.