Will votes or U.N. studies stop Israeli genocide?

Palestinian five-year-old Hind Rajab was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Gaza City on Jan. 29, 2024.

Will primary votes and U.N. studies stop Israeli genocide?

In the last week of June 2026, two developments highlighted the growing opposition to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. 

During the Democratic Party primary elections in New York on June 23, candidates allied with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who openly opposed the traditional Democratic Party support for Israel, won three major races and will be the Democratic candidates in the fall elections — reflecting that many people are disgusted with the traditional Democratic Party support for Israeli genocide. 

Just a few days later, the United Nations issued a report that the Israeli military was deliberately killing children in Gaza to prevent the Palestinian people from having a future. The U.N. acknowledged what the movements in support of Palestine have protested for years — that Israeli genocide targets Palestinian children for erasure.

In their 88-page report, the U.N.’s top investigative body on Palestine and Gaza concluded that Israel has killed over 20,000 Palestinian children since October 7, 2023, and that the killings continued after the October 2025 ceasefire. The U.N. report detailed instances of rape, torture and murder, precision shootings by snipers and drones and the deliberate destruction of schools, hospitals and other facilities necessary for their survival.

While both developments are welcome by the global movements opposing Israeli occupation of Palestine and genocide in Gaza, the question remains — what, if any impact will they have? 

Will the emergence of an anti-Israel bloc within the Democratic Party be enough to pressure the corporate leadership of this bourgeois party from continuing to accept AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) money? Will it be enough to convince them to vote against any additional funding for or collusion with Israel’s genocide? 

Since 2015, the U.N. General Assembly has adopted over 188 resolutions criticizing or targeting Israel — more than the combined total against all other countries in the world. Both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have found Israeli officials guilty of carrying out genocide in Gaza, yet no Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have been arrested when they visit the U.S. or other countries subject to these bodies’ jurisdictions. 

Instead of arresting Netanyahu or others responsible for the deaths of Palestinian children, Israel’s imperialist allies, including the U.S., Britain and Germany, criminalize or ban anti-Zionist groups like Palestine Action and arrest pro-Palestinian activists and sympathizers.

In July 2024 the International Court of Justice issued an Advisory Opinion that member states must intervene to prevent Israel’s genocidal crimes from continuing throughout occupied Palestine and Gaza. In light of the latest U.N. findings, the time is now — immediately and without delay — for all governments to cease the transfer of arms, technical or military support and all financial assistance to Israel!

The time for concrete actions that speak louder than resolutions and toothless elections is long overdue.