Israel and the U.S. Should Be Held to the Same Standards that the German Faced

 At the Nuremberg Trials

THE SO-CALLED “NUREMBERG TRIALS” were a cynical travesty of justice, in which the victors of World War II enacted illegal revenge against their defeated opponents. From a legal standpoint, they were disgusting.

The following are among the established legal procedures that the Allies and Soviets dispensed with in Nuremberg:

• Ex Post Facto Laws: Retroactive legislation, under which the accused were held culpable for alleged deeds that were not illegal when they took place.

• No Impartiality of the Judges: Rather than select judges from neutral nations that had not taken part in the War (such as Switzerland and Sweden), the Americans, Soviets, British and French sat in judgement over their defeated opponents: they were the “judge, jury and executioner” all rolled into one.

• The “Tu Quoque” defense was not allowed. It is a Latin phrase meaning “you did it, too.” For example, both the Germans and the Soviets invaded Poland in September 1939. But only the Germans were accused of this at Nuremberg. The Soviets, who were among those sitting in judgment at the trials, were given a free pass.

• Lack of Proper Defense: Whereas the prosecution had an army of lawyers, clerks and researchers, and months to prepare their cases, the defendants each had a single court-appointed German attorney (who was allowed one secretary). They were given a scant 30 days to organize their defense. Furthermore, the German attorneys were generally unfamiliar with Anglo-American jurisprudence and court procedures, which governed the makeshift judicial system set up for the trials.

• Lack of Cross-Examination: Some prosecution witnesses were allowed to give “testimony” by written affidavit and so could not be cross-examined by the defense.

• Lack of Defense Discovery: The prosecution was not required to turn over its evidence to the defense prior to the trial.

There were other hindrances imposed on the defense. The defendants were required to sleep only on their backs at night, with a bright lightbulb shining over their face. Thus they arrived for court each day in a fatigued and confused state of mind. At least one defendant, Julius Streicher, was being tortured in his cell in the evenings. When he attempted to protest this to the tribunal, he was gaveled down, and told that his accusations were not the matter before the court.

There were 22 defendants at the primary trial in October 1946. Of these, 12 were sentenced to death. Only three were acquitted – which may be viewed in a minor miracle, given the one-sided pseudo-legal proceedings that the Allies and the Soviets imposed on them!

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But, for the sake of argument, let us imagine a world in which the current U.S. and Israeli regimes were brought to trial to answer for war crimes in the current Mid-East conflicts, with all of the above irregularities and unfairness of the Nuremberg tribunals set aside.

Here are the four charges brought at Nuremberg:

1. Conspiracy to commit any of the following charges;
2. Crimes against peace;
3. War crimes;
4. Crimes against humanity.

Israel:

1. Guilty of conspiracy in all 3 of the other charges.
2. Guilty of crimes against peace for the invasion of Lebanon and Gaza, and the war against Iran.
3. Guilty of war crimes for targeting civilians (or recklessly ignoring the danger to civilians as “collateral damage"). Guilty of torturing Palestinian hostages and prisoners of war.
4. Guilty of crimes against humanity in Gaza for deliberately withholding food, water and medicine from a suffering population.

United States:

1. Definitely guilty of conspiracy in charge one; possibly guilty of conspiracy on charge three.
2. Guilty of crimes against peace in the attacks on Iran of June 2025 and February/March 2026.
3. Possibly guilty of war crimes for firing the Tomahawk missile which killed 175 Iranian schoolgirls in Minab, Iran, on February, 28, 2026.

We call upon the international community to bring these charges against the leaders of Israel and the United States.

What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander!

– James Harting

03/19/26/136

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