Judge Rejects US Complicity Case, But Urges Biden to Examine 'Unflagging' Support for Israel

A federal judge in Oakland, California dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that aimed to stop the U.S. from aiding Israel's catastrophic assault on the Gaza Strip—but also offered sharp criticism of the Biden administration's unwavering support for the war.

U.S. Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California ruled that the suit brought by Palestinian rights organizations and individuals in both the U.S. and Gaza falls "outside the court's limited jurisdiction" and must be rejected on technical grounds.

White described the case as a rare instance "in which the preferred outcome is inaccessible to the court," but notably pointed to the International Court of Justice's finding that South Africa's genocide case against Israel is "plausible" and suggested the U.S. government should reconsider its role in supporting the assault on Gaza.

"Both the uncontroverted testimony of the plaintiffs and the expert opinion proffered at the hearing on these motions as well as statements made by various officers of the Israeli government indicate that the ongoing military siege in Gaza is intended to eradicate a whole people and therefore plausibly falls within the international prohibition against genocide," White wrote.

"It is every individual's obligation to confront the current siege in Gaza, but it also this court's obligation to remain within the metes and bounds of its jurisdictional scope," he continued. "This court implores defendants to examine the results of their unflagging support of the military siege against the Palestinians in Gaza."

"We are still devastated that the court would not take the important step to stop the Biden administration from continuing to support the slaughter of the Palestinian people."

The ruling came as the estimated death toll from Israel's assault on Gaza passed 27,000—likely a dramatic undercount, given the number of bodies believed to be trapped under rubble and the growing difficulty of counting the dead as the Israeli bombing campaign nears the four-month mark.

Diala Shamas, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)—which represented the plaintiffs in Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden—said in a statement Wednesday that the federal court's ruling was "far from a win for the U.S. government."

President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Pentagon Secretary Lloyd Austin were named as defendants in the lawsuit, which sought an emergency order halting U.S. support for Israel's assault on Gaza. In its response to the lawsuit, the Biden administration argued for the case's dismissal on procedural grounds.

"It is unprecedented and damning that a federal court has all but affirmed that Israel is committing a genocide while criticizing defendants Biden, Blinken, and Austin's 'unflagging' support for the acts that constitute that genocide," said Shamas.

During oral arguments last week, Palestinian plaintiffs testified to the appalling destruction that Israel is imposing on Gaza's population, most of which is now displaced and at growing risk of starvation and disease. More than 100 of the plaintiffs' family members have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7, when the bombing began following a deadly Hamas-led assault on southern Israel.

"I have lost everything in this war," said Dr. Omar Al-Najjar, who testified from a Gaza hospital. "I have nothing but my grief. This is what Israel and its supporters have done to us."

Mohammed Monadel Herzallah, another plaintiff in the case, said in response to Wednesday's ruling that "it is important that the court recognized the United States is providing unconditional support to Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza and that a federal court heard Palestinian voices for the first time."

"But we are still devastated that the court would not take the important step to stop the Biden administration from continuing to support the slaughter of the Palestinian people," said Herzallah. "Currently, my family lacks food, medicine, and the most basic necessities for survival. As Palestinians, we know this is a hard struggle, and as plaintiffs we will continue to do everything in our power to save our people's lives."