Impact update: what we've done re: UN, Gaza aid, ICRC and Palestinian state recognition

We don't only write informative articles, we work to make a real difference in world events.

We are actually changing the world. Here’s how:

If you follow RealityCheck, you already know about our articles that clarify events around Israel and the Middle East, and our precise explanations of U.S. and international law that you can’t get anywhere else. You may also know that we frequently speak on television, to student groups and our articles and posts often go viral online or get reprinted in influential publications.

What you might not have known is that we are constantly making real world policy changes that benefit Israel, Jewish communities, and the Western world as a whole.

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs via Flickr.

Here’s a brief update on some of our latest work. Some of these are still “works in progress” but we wanted to give you an update on where we are so far.

Palestinian statehood: Earlier this month the United Kingdom and France announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state at a Saudi/France sponsored conference scheduled to take place in New York from June 17-20.

Using OSINT, Dark Web and Deep Web research, we compiled a detailed report proving that Palestinians see statehood recognition as a reward for the October 7 massacre and as direct encouragement (from Europe) to repeat such massacres again and again. Though experts have long suspected this to be true, we are unique in providing detailed proof directly from Arab sources.

Progress - shortly after presenting our findings and proof, the UK stepped back its position, clarifying that it supports Palestinian statehood recognition only as part of a negotiated agreement with Israel.

This is a developing story, with a variety of voices expressing different non-official views in the UK and France. We are continuing our discussions with officials in both countries, as well as with appropriate Israeli and American officials in advance of the June conference.

International Red Cross: Last month we published a review of the International Red Cross (the “ICRC”) proving that the organization habitually violates its duty of neutrality, supports internationally designated terror organizations, and behaves unfairly toward Israel and the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Progress - after receiving our work, the United States has been “reviewing” its funding of the ICRC, prompting the ICRC to take significant cost cutting measures, including: reducing spending, enacting a hiring freeze and downgrading future budgeting.

*Photo: ICRC President Peter Maurer with Hamas leader and architect of the October 7, 2023 massacre, Yahiya Sinwar (May 9, 2017, Al-Khaleej online).

We continue to work with leadership in both the White House and Congress, as well as with European ICRC funding parters, to encourage permanent and meaningful changes in support for this corrupt and tragically harmful global organization.

Full report available: In addition to the above linked report on Substack, we also compiled a more detailed version which we have shared with relevant U.S. and EU government officials. If you are a government official or for some other reason would find the full report useful, please feel free to reach out to us.

European policy shift. As many of you already know, last March we successfully prompted a major European country to step back from its claim that Israel was violating International law by freezing the flow of aid to Hamas. At the time Israel had just frozen aid deliveries, and we quickly published a clear and persuasive explanation of the specific, relevant international laws in support of that decision: including the elements of international law that allow for freezing international aid when it is being diverted to enemy combatants.

Photo: by Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024 via Wikimedia Commons.

Our work was used by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Israel’s Foreign Ministry in public and private communications, which were followed by the public change in that country’s policy and considerable embarrassment for its foreign ministry. At the request of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office we are not publicly mentioning the name of the country, in order to preserve important diplomatic relationships, however we can say that it is a major and influential power.

Update: Israel is now working with the United States to implement a new system of aid that bypasses UNRWA and other similarly corrupted organizations. The UN, not surprisingly, strongly objects to the new system. Imagine that - the United Nations is publicly taking a stand against providing humanitarian aid.

The above are just a few examples of our efforts to make the world a better, safer place. When we achieve a success that impacts policy or world events, it is a truly special feeling, and we want to thank you for being part of it!

We are a public charitable organization, funded entirely by tax deductible donations from private individuals like you - thank you for making our work possible!

Some additional (unrelated but nonetheless important) updates:

Escalation in Gaza: As we projected late last week, Israel has begun a major escalation in Gaza called Operation Gideon’s Chariots, with the goal of ending Hamas’s rule in Gaza, and placing full physical control of the territory in the hands of the IDF. Negotiations over the release of the remaining Israeli hostages are continuing in Qatar, simultaneously with this operation.

Something strange happened at Eurovision. Also…what’s Eurovision?

Much like soccer and the metric system, Eurovision is actually kind of a big deal outside of the United States. The annual song competition launched the careers of such musicians as ABBA, Céline Dion and Julio Iglesias. This year, Israel’s contestant was Yuval Raphael, who had survived the October 7 massacre by hiding under a pile of dead bodies of her friends. Stunningly, the Israeli survivor and amateur singer was met not only by cheers but also boo’s, protests, attempted physical assaults, and an official attempt by Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Belgium to ban Israel from the competition entirely.

Nonetheless, Israel not only took second place in the competition, but took first place in the “popular vote.” Winners at Eurovision are determined by a combination of scores from a jury of “experts” as well as a general popular vote by participating countries. Israel’s popularity is a hopeful sign that maybe, just maybe, the protesters, rioters, and official governments in Europe may not entirely represent the views of the general public.

Israel still faces very real official opposition throughout Europe, as Jewish communities face significant and record breaking antisemitism. But that might not be the whole story. Why? Perhaps the sight of pro-Palestinian rioters violently attacking German police in Berlin last week in honor of “Nakba Day” didn’t make such a good impression on the German people. Ditto for violent attacks on security guards in Basel at Eurovision, and dozens of other examples over recent years. Or perhaps it was because of other reasons entirely, but nonetheless, there’s more than meets the eye in Europe.

In a fitting irony, the European countries that gave Israel high marks in the popular vote included some of the very same countries whose governments had tried to get Israel banned from the competition, including: Spain, Ireland and Belgium, among others.

So…maybe there’s a bit of hope. And maybe that hope will come to be realized in future elections. Meanwhile, at RealityCheck we’ll keep doing our part to bring clarity and reality to global conversations. Because our work...works!

Thank you for being a part of what we do!