Israel's attempts to dissociate itself from its genocide is unraveling. The recent call published by The Lancet to remove the Israeli Medical Association from the World Medical Association is delivering a precise blow to self-perpetuated Israeli delusions of "professionalism" and "morality".
The IMA fully accepted the widely discredited Israeli claim that all Gazan hospitals served as Hamas command posts and did not merit professional solidarity, even as Israel was intentionally killing medical personnel. Letters of protest were issued only when it became clear that Israel was starving Gaza. In fact, letters of protest were most likely issued when the leadership of the IMA realized it no longer had international allies and that its attempts to weave its way between Israeli authorities and universal professional standards were failing.
When a well-know physician, an anaesthesiologist known for joining rescue missions to far-off destinations (demonstrating Israel's "morality") as well as for serving in the IDF reserves rven after he had turned 80, came forth to testify about the events taking place in the infamous Sde Teiman camp, he was seen as a civic hero. His testimony brought about the arrest of a group of prison guards who had been documented abusing a Palestinian prisoner. While these guards have since been reinstated, the physician published an op-ed with Haaretz today, self-exculpatory but also full of justifications for his actions while serving in the camp. He specifically demanded defense as a servant of the state, insinuating that responsibility was now a lethal load and was being denied by every component of the genocidal apparatus.
All this to say that Israel can no longer claim even the pretense of coherence in its self-justifying narratives. It is now a matter of denial ("it's not genocide!") or "following orders". This process has taken a criminally long time. It is compounded by Israel's removal from international and regional decision-making forums. Still, it is gathering momentum. The rats are fleeing.