Documents released under the Official Information Act today show that the NZDF did no legal due diligence regarding training with the Israeli Defence Force as part of RIMPAC 2024.

250 soldiers and sailors of the NZDF are currently deployed to the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Naval training exercises in Hawai’i. This six-week long training is the world’s largest navy war planning exercises. It is led by the United States Navy every two years. Israel is one of the participating countries.

“It is surprising to see that the NZDF legal team has not considered the participation of Israel in these exercises at all. They have given no advice to the Minister at all beyond, ‘Questions about Israel’s involvement in RIMPAC should be directed to the US military.’” said Valerie Morse, member of Peace Action Wellington.

“There is no information about the extent of Israeli involvement in RIMPAC in publicly available sources. It would be reasonable for NZDF to have clarity about what Israeli involvement is; to know specifically who the Israeli commanders and military leaders are that are participating in RIMPAC, then to test that with an appropriate legal analysis about implications for NZ under international and domestic law.”

“The Israeli Navy has been involved in an illegal blockade of Gaza since 2007 and deeply implicated in the intense human suffering there. Are they just beyond any accountability whatsoever?”

“The International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC) - both institutions that New Zealand has ratified into domestic law - have taken Israel and its leaders to task for its ongoing genocidal violence in Gaza. These are not matters we should take lightly nor dismiss as someone else’s public relations problem. Yet there seems to have been zero consideration of these issues by NZDF.”

“The New Zealand Government has long advocated for international law as the best way to protect small states. It is very keen on international law when it comes to Russia. The very same laws and same standards must apply to Israel.”

“Instead of upholding the principle of ‘one law for all’, the New Zealand Government is cynically deploying international law alongside the US to hold Russia to account but not Israel. This is a dangerous trend away from any kind of principled foreign policy to one of pure power politics in league with the US, a country that has refused to be held accountable by the ICC.”

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