Dedication: States are like children. Impunity to one might amuse its parents – they grow up and terrorise regions.
The Predator on Land, Sea and Air
On 17 May 2026, the Global Sumud aid flotilla – a peaceful humanitarian mission carrying food and medical supplies from 39 countries – was intercepted by Israeli naval forces in international waters, approximately 250 nautical miles from Gaza. Israeli warships surrounded the civilian vessels, cut their communications, detained activists, and seized the aid. Live broadcasts showed the attack unfolding in broad daylight. Anadolu Ajansı reported that Israeli forces transferred the detainees to what it described as a “floating prison” before transporting them to the port of Ashdod.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights condemned the interception as “maritime piracy” and a serious violation of international law and freedom of navigation. Dawn, Pakistan’s oldest English-language newspaper, called it “a brutal act of piracy on the high seas, and a brazen trespass on the sovereign right of vessels to navigate freely.”
This was not an isolated incident. It was the latest in a decades‑long pattern: a state that behaves on land, sea and air as if international law does not apply to it. A state that assassinates its opponents across sovereign borders, that ignores ceasefire agreements and UN resolutions, and that operates with complete impunity because of the diplomatic and military protection of the United States.
This article examines that pattern. It documents Israel’s history of piracy, extrajudicial killings, territorial expansion, and rejection of international law. It argues that Israel is not a “rogue state” in the colloquial sense – it is a predator, enabled by a superpower that has mistaken unconditional support for strategic wisdom.
The Piracy of the Sumud Flotilla – A Legal Analysis
The interception of the Global Sumud flotilla was illegal under several provisions of international law.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) guarantees the right of innocent passage through territorial waters and freedom of navigation on the high seas. The flotilla was in international waters – 250 nautical miles from Gaza, far beyond any territorial claim. Israel had no legal authority to board, search, seize, or detain.
The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea prohibits the interception of humanitarian missions unless they pose a direct military threat. The Sumud flotilla carried food, medicine, and activists – not weapons.
The Geneva Conventions prohibit collective punishment. Gaza has been under a suffocating blockade since 2007, described by the UN as a form of collective punishment. The flotilla was attempting to breach that blockade – not as an act of war, but as an act of humanity.
The Israeli government claimed the flotilla was “breaking the law” and could be “used for terrorist purposes.” No evidence was provided. As Dawn noted, “The regime that hunts aid ships in foreign waters operates a permanent war machine, bankrolled and shielded by its chief enabler, the United States.”
Historical Precedent – The United States vs. Barbary Pirates (1805)
There is irony in the fact that the United States – now Israel’s chief enabler – once fought a war precisely against the kind of maritime predation that Israel now practises.
The First Barbary War (1801–1805) was fought against the Barbary states of North Africa, which had been demanding tribute and seizing American ships in the Mediterranean. In 1805, US Marines under Lieutenant William Eaton marched 500 miles across the Libyan desert and captured the port city of Derna, raising the American flag on foreign soil for the first time.
The US action was celebrated as a victory against piracy and state‑sponsored extortion.
Two centuries later, the United States provides diplomatic cover and military aid to a state that interdicts humanitarian vessels in international waters, assassinates political leaders in foreign capitals, and maintains an illegal blockade that has caused a man‑made famine. The irony is not lost on the rest of the world.
Assassination as State Policy – The Killing of Negotiators
On 9 September 2025, Israeli air strikes targeted residential buildings in Doha, Qatar, housing Hamas negotiators, including chief negotiator Khalil al‑Hayya. The attack occurred while the delegation was actively discussing a ceasefire proposal from the United States. Israel claimed “full responsibility”, and multiple Israeli media outlets confirmed that the US had been notified and had given a “green light” .
Qatar condemned the attack as a “flagrant violation of all international laws and norms”. The UN Secretary‑General called it a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty. Regional powers including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE denounced the strikes .
The pattern is unmistakable:
- January 2024: Senior Hamas political leader Saleh al‑Arouri was killed in a drone strike in Beirut, Lebanon.
- July 2024: Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, Iran, while attending the inauguration of the president.
- 1995: Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shaqaqi was gunned down in Sliema, Malta – European Union territory – in an operation attributed to Mossad.
Extrajudicial killings – assassinations carried out without judicial process – are unequivocally illegal under international human rights law. The United Nations has repeatedly condemned such practices. Yet Israel continues them with impunity.
The timing of these killings is particularly revealing. They occur precisely when ceasefire agreements appear within reach. As one analysis noted, “This suggests a deliberate strategy to derail peace processes and maintain the cycle of violence that serves Israeli political interests.”
Territorial Expansion – The West Bank and the Golan Heights
On 22 October 2025, a coalition of 18 states and international organisations issued a joint statement condemning Israeli legislative measures aiming to impose “sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank and illegal colonial settlements. The statement reaffirmed that Israel has “no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory” and that the measures are a “blatant violation of international law, and of United Nations Security Council resolutions particularly Resolution 2334, which condemns all Israeli measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the occupied Palestinian territory since 1967, including East Jerusalem.”
The statement also noted the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion of 22 October 2025, which reaffirmed Israel’s obligation to ensure the population of Gaza has essential supplies and that mass forcible transfer and deportation are prohibited.
The Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967 and unilaterally annexed in 1981, has been condemned by the UN Security Council in Resolution 497, which declared the annexation “null and void and without international legal effect.” Yet Israel maintains its occupation, and the United States has recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights – a unilateral act of diplomatic recognition that undermines decades of international consensus.
The United Nations Record – Repeated Condemnation
The United Nations has a long history of resolutions condemning Israel. Since 2015, the General Assembly has passed 115 resolutions condemning Israel, compared to only 45 against all other countries combined .
These resolutions cover:
- Illegal settlement construction in the West Bank (repeatedly condemned by the Security Council).
- The annexation of the Golan Heights (Security Council Resolution 497).
- The blockade of Gaza (condemned by the General Assembly and human rights bodies).
- Human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (annual reports of the Special Committee).
The United States has used its veto power in the Security Council to shield Israel from binding resolutions dozens of times. A single state – one of five permanent members – has prevented the international community from holding Israel accountable for actions that, if committed by any other state, would have resulted in sanctions, arms embargoes, or even intervention.
The Role of the United States – Enabling the Rogue
The United States is not a passive observer. It is an active enabler.
- Financial aid: The US provides approximately $3.8 billion per year in military aid to Israel – the largest annual recipient of US foreign aid.
- Diplomatic cover: The US has vetoed countless Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, including those condemning settlement expansion, the blockade of Gaza, and the annexation of the Golan Heights.
- Military support: The US supplies advanced weaponry, including F‑35 fighter jets, precision‑guided munitions, and missile defence systems – all used in operations against Palestinians.
This unconditional support has produced a state that behaves with impunity because it has learned that there will be no consequences. As one observer noted, “The arsonist is playing the firefighter, with its superpower patron forever handing it the matches.”
The tragedy is that this impunity does not only harm Palestinians. It also harms Israelis. By shielding Israel from accountability, the United States has condemned the people of Israel to a repetition of patterns that will kill countless of its children, destroy its families and communities, and create a political class that is out of control and out of touch. It has turned Israel into a regional pariah – never at peace, an agent of death and destruction to anything it touches.
This is not unique. It is a variation on an old pattern.
- Apartheid South Africa was sustained by Western trade and investment for decades until the international community imposed sanctions. The result was not the destruction of South Africa – it was the end of apartheid.
- Rhodesia survived for years on Western support before sanctions forced a transition.
- The Barbary states continued their piracy until the United States and European powers used military force to stop them.
Israel is not beyond change. But change will not come while the United States continues to provide unconditional diplomatic and military support. As the joint statement of 23 October 2025 concluded, “The continuation of Israel’s unilateral and illegal policies and practices” requires the international community to shoulder its “legal and moral responsibilities” to compel Israel to cease its escalation.
Conclusion: The Rogue That Cannot Be Tamed
Israel is a rogue state – not because it is uniquely evil, but because it has been allowed to behave as if international law does not apply to it. Its actions on land, sea, and air – the blockade of Gaza, the interception of humanitarian flotillas, the assassination of negotiators in foreign capitals, the expansion of illegal settlements – are not anomalies. They are policy.
The United States has enabled this behaviour for decades. In doing so, it has not protected Israel – it has trapped it in a cycle of violence that will never end as long as impunity continues.
The solution is not simple. But the first step is to name the pattern.
A rogue state is not a state that breaks the rules. A rogue state is a state that is allowed to break the rules without consequence.
Israel is a rogue state. And its chief enabler is the United States.
References
- Sumud flotilla interception (May 2026) – Anadolu Ajansı
- Joint Statement condemning Israeli sovereignty measures (Oct 2025) – UNISPAL
- Doha assassinations (Sep 2025) – Newsbook
- First Barbary War (1801-1805) – Wikipedia
- UN resolutions against Israel – Jewish Ledger
- UN General Assembly resolution 48/41D (Golan Heights) – UNISPAL
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Randy Newman wrote a song more than 50 years ago called Political Science. I’d expect many of the readers of these pages would be familiar with it. Noted that he omits Israel from his list of putative targets.
Might be time for a revised version to be written.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu avoided his court hearing (to answer allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust) to view the assault on the Sumud Flotilla. He has frequently used “security schedules” and “diplomatic consultations” to delay or shorten his ongoing corruption trial.
He thumbs his nose not only at the Israeli Courts but also the International Criminal Court who have an arrest warrant out for him.
His day will surely come but it needs the international community to speak out in one voice and condemn this crook.
Terry, It’s horrifying that the international community is largely, silent about Israel’s crimes. The world has become an ugly place in recent times and I genuinely fear for younger generations.
Murder, theft, constant lies, endless filth, all because depraved corrupting righteous supremacist superstition destroys thought, intelligence, awareness, behaviour, all decency. That is Netanyahu’s Israel, and it must be confronted, challenged, stopped.
Every day in every way the West itself proves, it is Greater Israel. From the Olympics to FIFA and Eurovision, are all part of the West’s soft sell propaganda to cover Zionist Israel’s genocide and apartheid rule. The West will pay a high price for its duplicitous complicity and horrendous double standards.