Jurist Stands in Defense of Israel Against Critics
A federal judge published a book defending Israel against accusations of colonialism, apartheid, and genocide that intensified after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.
United States District Court Judge Roy K. Altman has published Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law, a detailed response to claims that have proliferated among liberal commentators, international institutions, and campus activists in the wake of Hamas’s massacre and kidnapping operation that triggered the Gaza war, according to Washington Examiner.
The judicial intervention comes as charges of Israeli settler colonialism and systematic oppression have moved from provocative accusations to widely accepted positions in progressive circles and among certain international bodies.
The Colonialism Question
Altman tackles the colonial charge by asserting that colonialism requires a foreign population exploiting land distant from their homeland. Since Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel, he argues, the entire framework collapses.
The judge marshals extensive evidence including the Merneptah Stele, a 13th-century BCE Egyptian inscription containing the earliest known reference to Israel, DNA research connecting modern Jewish populations to ancient Levantine peoples, and documentation of continuous Jewish presence across millennia.
However, this historical argument does not fully address the contemporary anti-Zionist position that modern Israel functions as a settler colonial state regardless of ancient origins. Writer Adam Kirsch offered a more direct rebuttal in his 2024 work On Settler Colonialism, demonstrating that Israel lacks defining colonial features: no mother country backing it, founders who did not seek higher living standards, no foreign power financing the enterprise, and a population with no alternative homeland.
Statehood and Legal Legitimacy
The book provides thorough corrections to hostile narratives regarding Israel’s legal standing, the reasons Palestinians have not achieved statehood, and conditions in Gaza before October 7.
Altman documents six separate proposals for a two-state solution rejected by Palestinian leadership not over specific provisions but because they have consistently demanded a single Arab state.
He also dismantles the characterization of Gaza as an open-air prison prior to the Hamas terror assault.
Apartheid and Genocide Allegations
On apartheid accusations, Altman points to Arab Israeli citizens enjoying equal political and social rights under Israeli law, with representation in higher education and government demonstrating this reality.
The more sophisticated version of this charge focuses on the West Bank. Altman notes that the Oslo Accords placed Palestinian population centers under Palestinian Authority governance, making it unsurprising that residents are not Israeli citizens with corresponding rights.
The judge acknowledges this presents an incomplete picture, as attacks on Palestinians by Hilltop Youth extremists represent a genuine problem that the current Israeli government has failed to adequately address, though this falls short of systematic apartheid.
The book represents a significant contribution from a respected federal jurist to public discourse on Israel, though it sometimes argues past more nuanced opponents and occasionally overstates its case, as Washington Examiner reports.
With information from Washington Examiner
