Ehud Barak, Israel’s then defence minister and the country’s most decorated soldier, warned in 2010 that “as long as in this territory west of the Jordan river there is only one political entity called Israel, it is going to be either non-Jewish or non-democratic. If this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state.” This argument was made again in 2014 by John Kerry as US secretary of state (though he later regretted the language). Three years later, Boris Johnson, when he was UK foreign secretary, said much the same thing. No one seemed in any doubt that were Israel to carry on without making peace with the Palestinians, the country would face credible accusations of apartheid.
After a four-year investigation, Amnesty last week became the latest human rights organisation to level that charge, concluding that Israel operated a “system which amounts to apartheid under international law”. It said that the UN security council must “impose targeted sanctions against Israeli officials implicated”, and demanded an arms embargo on Israel. Amnesty also called for the perpetrators of apartheid to be “brought to justice” through the international criminal court. This is the world’s biggest human rights organisation; its conclusion shows the discussion is becoming embedded in international forums.
