The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) recently declined to pursue a case against Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. She did, however, issue a lengthy nonbinding statement arguing that it is “reasonable” to believe that Israel occupies Gaza, although it has no troops or officials there. Since the opinion makes a mockery of legal reasoning and relevant precedent, what is its basis? Eugene Kontorovich writes:

[T]he prosecutor astonishingly relies on the view of “the international community” that Gaza is occupied. This view is derived from two UN General Assembly (GA) resolutions that call Gaza part of “Occupied Palestinian Territories” without explaining how this comports with customary international-law definitions of occupation. This is perhaps the most surprising part of the prosecutor’s memo. The GA is an explicitly political body. Occupation is a legal status with a legal definition established by treaty and custom. Deferring to a political body to determine a legal question effectively turns the ICC into an adjunct of world opinion—a political popularity contest rather than an arbiter of impartial and general norms.

The former Israeli chief justice Aharon Barak recently warned that the country could be headed toward civil war due to Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire the head of the Shin Bet, and the opposition thereto. To Amichai Attali, such comments are both “out of touch with reality” and irresponsible—as are those of Barak’s political opponents:

Yes, there is tension and stress, but there is also the unique Israeli sense of solidarity. Who exactly would fight in this so-called civil war? Try finding a single battalion or military unit willing to go out and kill their own brothers and sisters—you won’t. They don’t exist. About 7 percent of the population represents the extremes of the political spectrum, making the most noise. But if we don’t come to our senses, that number might grow.

And what about you, leader of [the leftwing party] The Democrats and former deputy IDF chief, Yair Golan? You wrote that the soldiers fighting Hamas in Gaza are pawns in Netanyahu’s political survival game. Really? Is that what the tens of thousands of soldiers on the front lines need to hear? Or their mothers back home? Do you honestly believe Netanyahu would sacrifice hostages just to stay in power? Is that what the families of those hostages need right now?

Israeli democracy will not collapse if Netanyahu fires the head of the Shin Bet—so long as it’s done legally. Nor will it fall because demonstrators fill the streets to protest. They are not destroying democracy, nor are they terrorists working for Hamas.