Likud Lawmaker Says Laws Applying to Other Nations Do Not Apply to Israel

Israeli Likud lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky has said that laws binding other countries should not necessarily apply to Israel, arguing that the Jewish people have a distinct, divinely ordained status.

In remarks captured on video and circulated on social media, Milwidsky said: “We are not like everyone else,” adding that the Jewish people were “born a high people” and had a duty to create what he described as a land of miracles and virtue.

He presented this religious conception of Jewish distinctiveness as a basis for Israel being exempt from rules applied to other nations. The comments have drawn attention amid continuing international scrutiny of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Middle East Monitor also referenced the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 advisory opinion, which found Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful and addressed Israeli measures concerning racial segregation and discrimination.