Natasha Hausdorff: International law itself under attack by anti-Israel NGOs
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus (https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/friday-focus/). Each Friday, join host diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman (https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/lazar-berman/) for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.
Israel is doing well on the battlefield since October 7, but has lost significant ground in the information war.
Much of that discourse is rooted in legal language -- war crimes, arrest warrants, illegal settlements, charges of genocide.
International law and the conversation around international law is a central battlefield for Israel.
Natasha Hausdorff is one of Israel's most prominent advocates, especially around questions of international law.
Hausdorff is a barrister in London with law degrees from Oxford and Tel Aviv University. She is the legal director of UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust, and is the founder of the Center for International Rule of Law.
She argues that there is an ecosystem of international organizations, NGOs, and foreign governments "promoting a particular agenda against Western civilization" and using the phraseology of international law to vilify Israel.
Hausdorff says Israel takes measures to protect civilians that go beyond those of any other army in the world. That includes the delivery of leaflets, phone calls to individual householders, evacuation corridors to humanitarian zones, and yes, estimates of collateral damage before strikes.
She also argues that the International Committee of the Red Cross does not have a clear mandate to access terrorist combatants in Israeli prisons.
Turning to the genocide question, she says the UN Commission of Inquiry that ruled Israel was committing genocide in Gaza was "essentially a copy and paste" of the Amnesty International report, which relied on a Human Rights Watch report.
Hausdorff calls it "a cycle of disinformation laundering... Hamas propaganda getting that stamp of UN authority."
She also laments Navi Pillay's Nobel Peace Prize, saying she is part of the effort to lower the threshold for genocide in order to find Israel guilty.
Lazar Focus is available on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and video edited by Yitzchak Ledee.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
9 Oct 2026
Elizabeth Tsurkov: Sharaa's Syria is no threat to Israel
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus (https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/friday-focus/). Each Friday, join host diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman (https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/lazar-berman/) for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.
Israel and Jews around the world marked three years since the October 7 attacks this week.
It was a time to remember the fallen and the survivors. It was also an opportunity to take stock of Israel's conflicts and what Israel should do next.
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a PhD student at Princeton and Middle East scholar, says that Israel's approach to Syria and Lebanon needs to be recalibrated.
Israel thinks it has a "panacea" in its buffer zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, she argues. But it's not clear how that solves Israel's challenges, and at least in Syria, it is making Israel less safe.
She notes that Hezbollah is a badly weakened force and has lost a lot of legitimacy inside Lebanon. But the Joseph Aoun government is not about to risk domestic tension and even civil war by actually trying to disarm Hezbollah. Israel remaining in Lebanon only weakens the Aoun government further, Tsurkov argues.
In Syria, she says, decisions are made by a group of five people, led by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa. They are "deeply, deeply pragmatic," says Tsurkov. They have sacrificed much to reach a position of power, and are not about to throw it away by picking a fight with Israel.
However, she warns, Israel is making a major mistake with its buffer zone in Syria. Instead of making the border safer, the IDF presence is antagonizing the locals and will eventually push some toward guerrilla warfare against Israel.
Lazar Focus is available on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and video edited by Yitzchak Ledee.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
2 Oct 2026
Alan Shatter: Palestine 'cult' endangers future of Irish Jews
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus. Each Friday, join host diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.
It was a stormy week politically in Ireland.
It wasn't over an attempted terrorist attack like we had here in Israel this week.
It wasn't over the rising cost of energy or immigration, like elsewhere in Europe.
It was a soccer match against Israel. That was enough to dominate the country's headlines.
How did Ireland become so focused on Israel, and so hostile to the Jewish state?
Alan Shatter, a leading Jewish figure in the country and former justice and defense minister, says a pro-Palestine 'cult' has taken over the country's politics.
The country has always had a checkered past with its Jews, he said. The Provisional IRA had deep ties with Palestinian terrorists, and their political movement Sinn Fein 'contaminated' Irish politics by putting the Palestinian cause front and center.
That obsessive focus has spread from politics across Irish society, Shatter lamented, and now trade unions, teachers, artists, and athletes have significant pro-Palestinian movements.
The angst over the soccer match against Israel a new "level of complete and utter absurdity," he said. Now, he said, many Jews are asking whether they have a future in the country in the face of daily abuse online and a toxic environment around Israel.
"There's a deep problem here," Shatter said. "It's one the government refuses to recognize. It's one the government is contributing to."
Lazar Focus is available on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and video edited by Ari Schlacht.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
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