51 Summer 2025 registered in Belgium. According to the report, one of its two founders has ties to Hezbollah, and both have publicly expressed support for jihadist terrorism, including the October 7 massacre. They have also been linked to another organization fined by a Dutch court for publishing antisemitic cartoons.45 Exposing the backgrounds and alleged terror connections of HRF’s leaders has strategic value. It can discourage well-intentioned individuals and organizations from offering support and may prompt Belgian authorities to scrutinize HRF’s funding sources to ensure compliance with the international convention against the financing of terrorism.46 However, this approach has its limits. As a former Chief Military Prosecutor, I can attest that crucial information often emanates from dubious sources. While the credibility of a source demands that its information be examined with extreme care, it does not automatically invalidate the information itself. Therefore, simply discrediting the messenger, while important, is not a sufficient strategy to counter the message. A Strategic Response: What Can Be Done? Upholding the Rule of Law: Preventing and Investigating Alleged War Crimes Even in the most law-abiding societies, individuals break the law. No military is an exception. A professional, disciplined, and moral military is not one where deviations never occur, but one that works proactively to prevent illegal behavior and, after the fact, acts decisively to identify, investigate, and prosecute it. A decade ago, a public commission that included international expert observers thoroughly examined Israel’s mechanisms for investigating alleged violations of the Laws of Armed Conflict (LoAC). Its concluding report stated that these mechanisms “generally comply with the obligations of the State of Israel under the rules of international law.”47 Those same mechanisms remain in place today, though the independence of Israel’s justice system48 – and the military justice system in particular – is under attack from the current government. A prominent example of this pressure occurred recently at the Sde Teiman detention facility. When the Military Police Criminal Investigations Division (MPCID) arrived to arrest soldiers suspected of abusing a Palestinian detainee, far-right protestors, including a government minister and a Knesset member, broke into the base to obstruct the arrest. While some political leaders denounced these actions, Israel’s Justice Minister stated he was “shocked” to see IDF soldiers detained “in a way suitable for arresting dangerous criminals,” calling their work at the base a “holy job.”49 Despite this political pressure, “the fortress still holds.” The military prosecution proceeded to indict five soldiers in this case.50 In a separate incident at the same facility, another soldier convicted of abuse was sentenced to seven months imprisonment and demoted to the rank of private.51 Reports indicate that over 85 criminal 45. “Unmasking Hate: The real face of the Hind Rajab Foundation,” THE MINISTRY FOR DIASPORA AFFAIRS AND COMBATING ANTISEMITISM (Jan. 7, 2025), available at https://www.gov.il/en/pages/special_report_hrf_ foundation_2025-01 46. International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, supra note 39. Belgium has ratified this convention and further consistently objected to declarations of states like Egypt and Syria purporting to exclude from the scope of terror under the conventions “armed resistance against foreign occupation” and similar wording, emphasizing that terrorism cannot be justified by “considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature,” see https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails. aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-11&chapter =18&clang=_en#EndDec 47. The Turkel Report, supra note 12, at 49. 48. The current coalition has passed a bill strengthening the influence of politicians and political-appointed members in the Judicial Selection Committee, see Nitsan Shafir, “Knesset passes Judicial Selection Law,” GLOBES (Mar. 27, 2025), available at https://en.globes.co.il/en/articleknesset-passes-judicial-selection-law-1001506201 49. Rob Picheta, Tamar Michaelis, Mike Schwartz and Abeer Salman, “Far-right lawmakers break into Israeli detention camp, protesting probe into soldiers’ alleged abuse of prisoner,” CNN (July 30, 2024), available at https:// edition.cnn.com/2024/07/29/middleeast/sde-teimanprotests-idf-investigation-intl 50. Adam Rasgon, “Israeli Military Prosecutor Charges Five Reservists With Abuse of Detainee,” THE NEW YORK TIMES (Feb. 19, 2025), available at https://www.nytimes. com/2025/02/19/world/middleeast/israeli-soldierscharged-abuse-palestinian-detainee.html 51. Press Release, “Reservist Soldier Verdict For Abuse Against Prisoners at ‘Sde Teiman’,” THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES (Feb. 6, 2025), available at https://www.idf.il/ en/mini-sites/idf-press-releases-israel-at-war/february25-pr/reservist-soldier-verdict-for-abuse-againstprisoners-at-sde-teiman/
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