Idaho lawmakers who attended Israeli propaganda tour should resign | Opinion

On Tuesday, the U.N. Human Rights Council confirmed what Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem and countless nongovernmental organizations, academics and human rights advocates have known for months: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

That same day, less than 50 miles from where Israel has killed more than 64,000 and wounded more than 163,000 Palestinians in the last two years, a bipartisan delegation of members of the Idaho House of Representatives planted an Idaho flag to show “Idaho’s unwavering friendship with Israel.”

Reps. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls; Ilana Rubel, D-Boise; Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa; John Shirts, R-Weiser; and Josh Tanner, R-Eagle were attending the “50 States, One Israel” conference, part of an Israeli-state-funded campaign to undermine the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement, which works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. In doing this, these legislators betrayed Idaho values. It’s time for them to resign.

When asked about the trip, House Minority Leader Rubel said to Boise State Public Radio, “We were assured that our attendance is not an endorsement of the current government but rather an opportunity to learn and ask questions.” The delegation visited Jewish heritage sites and sites of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Notably, the delegation did not visit any sites in the Gaza strip, where Israel has damaged or destroyed 92% of homes and razed every university and nearly half of the hospitals.

The delegation heard from international fugitives like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Notably, the delegation did not speak with the families of the over 270 journalists, 125 aid workers and 1,400 medical professionals whom Israel has killed, often in targeted attacks.

The delegation wined and dined with Zionist politicians from all 50 U.S. states. Notably, none of the approximately 320,000 children at risk of starvation due to Israel’s siege within walking distance of the conference had the privilege of joining them for a meal.

Make no mistake: Ehardt, Rubel, Skaug, Shirts and Tanner were on a propaganda tour paid for by a foreign government to placate backlash to genocide.

Contrary to Rubel’s implication, the atrocities unfolding against Palestinians are not confined to the last two years nor to the current government of Israel. One only must look to the West Bank, where Israel has supported extremist terrorism, illegal annexations and settlements condemned by virtually the entire international community for decades to observe this.

In fact, the Israeli military destroyed about 3,000 olive trees in a West Bank village northeast of Ramallah less than a month before the Idaho delegation’s visit, which included planting a sapling in the Israeli Ofakim Park. This is just a fraction of the 1 million olive trees cut down in Palestine since 1967 as a part of Israel’s systematic efforts to destroy Palestinian culture and livelihoods.

Even within its legal borders, Israel routinely denies its own citizens of Arab heritage basic human dignity. Israel systematically underfunds Arab-majority schools; denies Bedouin communities access to water, electricity and paved roads; and overpolices Arab neighborhoods. The country’s 2018 Nation-State Law enshrined national self-determination as unique to Jews, effectively relegating Arab citizens to second-class status.

To say these legislators’ actions are a betrayal is an understatement. Ehardt, Rubel, Skaug, Shirts and Tanner’s gift of an Idaho flag to a genocidal ethnostate is an unspeakable insult to the Idahoans they purport to represent. There was no official purpose of this trip, and no Idahoan’s interests were served.

The covert nature of their trip only goes to show that these politicians knew what they were doing was wrong and they thought their constituents were too stupid to figure it out. It is a disgusting display of immorality and an unforgivable violation of public trust.

Ehardt, Rubel, Skaug, Shirts and Tanner lack the moral courage for public service of any kind. I urge readers to call their representatives and demand these so-called “leaders” resign immediately.

Shiva Rajbhandari is an Idaho human rights advocate.