It is my belief, shared by many others, that as we confront the human condition there is always something in Shakespeare that helps us to understand it in depth. In this context ‘Macbeth’ comes uppermost in my mind. After murdering King Duncan sleeping in her house, Lady Macbeth says while sleepwalking:

Here's the smell of blood still.

All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh,oh, oh!

Obviously, this sleepwalking lament does not yet apply to Benjamin Netanyahu as he has not stopped murdering. There is already so much blood on his hands; the blood of the 10,000 children; of the 20,000 adults that includes more than 12,000 women.

All told, by hurling recklessly the Pentagon-supplied bombs, (1000-tonnes, and 2000-tonnes), the Israeli Defence Forces have accumulated a grim toll of over 100,000 human beings, killed, wounded, or missing, as they remain under the rubble of bombed residential buildings, schools, hospitals, and refugee camps set up by the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency).

Netanyahu can claim a place in the Guinness World Records for having killed more journalists, 85 now, and still counting, in less time than anyone else in history.

The key question is: Why is he continuing to sleepwalk committing horrendous crimes, including genocide? The short answer is that he continues to sleepwalk as the only person able to wake him up is also sleepwalking into an electoral disaster, namely, US President Joe Biden.

Why is Biden doing what he is doing? The media tells us that Biden has serious memory problems. The other day he claimed to have met French President Mitterrand who left this world in 1996, only to mention one instance out of many.

There are two other serious flaws in Biden ignored, by and large, by the media. First, his unintended, we hope, cruelty to the English language. He said the other day in the context of the Holocaust Netanyahu is planning to perpetrate in Rafat in Gaza: Israel should protect civilians.

This is bizarre. The correct language would have been Israel should stop killing the civilians. The whole world including Netanyahu knows that he is killing civilians in Gaza and on a smaller scale in the West Bank. Biden too knows it.

Another instance of Bidonian cruelty to the English language is his statement repeated ad nauseum, that Israel has every right to defend itself. His real meaning is that Israel has every right to kill women and children, destroy hospitals, residential buildings, and infrastructure like water and power; it can tell lies; and, in short, commit genocide.

Why is Biden doing what he is doing? One explanation the media gives us is that as he is a candidate, he wants to make sure that he is supported by the formidable Jewish lobby. Maybe.

Is he not bound by the 1776 Declaration of Independence? Let us recall the opening words:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the…”

Obviously “all men” include the Palestinians. Why is Biden supplying weapons with which Netanyahu kills thousands of Palestinians? Obviously, there is an egregious moral bankruptcy in Biden.

Why is the media silent about it? When three American military men were killed, Biden took retaliatory action.

The moral bankruptcy is, alas, contagious. Even the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has caught the endemic of moral bankruptcy.

However, the endemic is not yet a pandemic. The Republic of South Africa where Mahatma Gandhi experimented with truth, nonviolence, and fearlessness to confront the establishment hellbent on denying the basic human rights of Indian emigrants, where Nelson Mandela put an end to the vicious Apartheid, has shown itself to be free from the toxic contagion of moral bankruptcy.

It took Israel to the ICJ. The Court after much equivocation ordered Israel to “prevent” the commission of acts of genocide after quoting the definition of genocide from the 1948 Convention to Prevent and Punish Genocide.

Some apologists for Israel have argued that the Court has not ordered Israel to stop the war. The argument is Jesuitic and does not hold water. Why should the Court order Israel to “prevent” genocide unless it has been happening or was about to happen?

Let us try to figure out why the Court did not order an immediate ceasefire? Some of the 17 judges wanted to be “politically correct”. They know that Washington was upset that the Court had not rejected the South African petition ab initio. If the ICJ determines that there was genocide, Netanyahu cannot get out of Israel as any country he visits is bound to arrest him.

It has been stated by eminent jurists that the Court might take a long time, months or even years to determine whether there has been genocide in a given case. Why should it take that long? What is the point in waiting for years before concluding that there was genocide in Rwanda?

Let us recall the articles:

  1. The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
  2. Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials, or private individuals.

Obviously, Netanyahu can be and should be punished. Even more obviously, it is unlikely to happen. Israel has been giving wrong information galore. An example, Israel told the ICJ, “There is no limit on the amount of food, water, shelter or medical supplies that can be brought into Gaza.”

The truth is by imposing a prolonged inspection at the entry point and by putting obstacles in the way of distribution of the aid, Israel has created famine or near famine conditions, especially in the north of Gaza where UNRWA has not been able to distribute aid for weeks.

Why is Netanyahu doing this? Two reasons. First and foremost, his assessment that once there is a permanent ceasefire his journey to jail will start. He will be compelled to resign and once he ceases to be Prime Minister the long-standing corruption case against him will be revived.

For the second reason we need to go to Shakespeare. Netanyahu says that he wants to destroy Hamas in toto as otherwise Israel will not be safe. Even if Israel kills the last Hamas militant, that will not be the end of Hamas as it is an ideology.

By resorting to extreme violence and repression Netanyahu is only creating the conditions conducive to strengthening Hamas. For one killed, three or four new recruits will be there.

In short, Netanyahu is seeking security. Did not the witches in ‘Macbeth’ say that security is “mortal’s chief enemy”. The only difference is that Macbeth was tricked into murdering Duncan by the witches. In the case of Netanyahu, there are no witches.

Incidentally, the reference to Arabia by Lady Macbeth has a resonance. Biden wanted to arrange a ‘marriage’ between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and the ‘wicked’ Hamas came in the way and postponed the nuptials. It might happen under Donald Trump if he is not disqualified from contesting.

Ambassador K. P. Fabian served in IFS from 1964 to 2000. His latest book is ‘The Arab Spring That Was And Wasn’t’ commissioned by Indian Council Of World Affairs. Views expressed here are the writer's own.

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