In the climactic final battle of Disney’s Aladdin, the clever street rat exposes a fundamental truth to the villainous Jafar: “The genie gave you your power,” Aladdin declares, “and he can take it away!” Jafar, drunk on his own strength, realizes too late that his power isn’t truly his; it is borrowed, dependent on a force outside himself. This children’s tale captures a deeper reality about the nature of power, justice, and legitimacy. International law, which draws its moral authority from the Jewish suffering of the Holocaust, is like Jafar’s borrowed power. If the Jewish people helped create this framework of international rights, then they have the power—and perhaps the obligation—to take it back, to lock it away if it is being misused.
When we look at the origins of international human rights law, we find two Jewish visionaries at its heart: Rafael Lemkin and. Lemkin, the man who coined the term “genocide,” and Lauterpacht, who developed the concept of “crimes against humanity,” were both profoundly affected by the Jewish experience of the Holocaust. They channeled their people’s suffering into a global legal framework meant to prevent such horrors from happening again. In doing so, they transformed Jewish pain into a set of universal norms that shaped the conscience of the world.
But just as Jafar’s power was not his own, international law’s authority does not arise from nowhere. It is rooted in the historical outrage over the Jewish genocide—a moral outcry so powerful that it compelled the world to erect new structures of justice. These legal frameworks, like the genie’s magic, are not self-sustaining. They depend on the legitimacy granted by those whose suffering inspired them. Without the catalyst of Jewish suffering, there would have been no “genocide” as a legal term, no “crimes against humanity” to prosecute, and no robust international law system as we know it today.
Today, however, this same system of international law has been increasingly wielded against Israel, the very state founded as a refuge for the Jewish people in the wake of the Holocaust. The institutions and conventions created to safeguard the Jewish people are now often used to delegitimize their state, accusing Israel of war crimes, apartheid, and even genocide—the very crimes that these legal concepts were originally developed to prevent against the Jews. The genie has turned on its master.
Like Jafar, who uses the genie’s power for his own ends, there are many who now wield the instruments of international law to serve their own agendas, often in ways that undermine the safety and sovereignty of Israel. International courts and bodies disproportionately target Israel while often ignoring or minimizing far worse atrocities committed elsewhere. The principles that were designed to protect human dignity are sometimes twisted into political weapons against the Jewish state, inverting their original purpose and turning justice on its head.
The time has come for Jews to remember that they, like Aladdin, have the power to challenge this misappropriation. If international law has become a tool for injustice, if it has strayed so far from its original moral foundations, then Jews have the right to lock it away in the lamp until it can be recalibrated. The very authority of this legal order is derived from the suffering of the Jewish people; therefore, Jews have the moral authority to withdraw their consent from a system that no longer serves its rightful purpose.
But where do we turn if we lock away the genie of international law? We look to a different source, an older and deeper framework for justice. The prophet Isaiah offers us a vision that transcends the flawed politics of international law. Isaiah prophesied that “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4). He envisioned a time when the nations of the world would come to Jerusalem to resolve their disputes, seeking wisdom and guidance from a people who have known suffering and survival.
This prophetic vision points to a different kind of justice—one that is not about punitive measures or political machinations but about true moral authority. It is a justice rooted in the values of the Jewish people, whose experience of exile, persecution, and resilience offers a unique perspective on the importance of human dignity and the quest for peace.
By invoking the spirit of Isaiah, we propose a new paradigm for global justice. Instead of relying on a corrupted international legal system, the world can look to Jerusalem, the city of peace, for guidance. Here, disputes can be settled through wisdom, compassion, and understanding—principles far more enduring than the transient and politicized judgments of international tribunals.
If the genie of international law is out of control, it may be time to put it back in the lamp. By doing so, we don’t abandon the pursuit of justice; we reclaim it. We root it in the values of the prophets of Israel, who envisioned a world where all nations would come to learn the ways of righteousness and peace from Zion. This is the true fulfillment of international justice—a justice that reflects the ancient wisdom of the Jewish people and their prophetic vision for a world redeemed.
Jews have the power, like Aladdin, to challenge the corrupted use of the genie’s power. If the laws built on their suffering are now wielded against them, they have every right to lock them away. In their place, they offer a higher calling: to invite the nations to Jerusalem, to draw from the well of Jewish values and prophetic vision, and to work together toward a world where swords are turned into plowshares and peace is not just a dream but a lived reality.
Rabbi Adam Winston is a lawyer specializing in local government law and a rabbi specializing in bringing a spiritual dimension to political rhetoric. He is a dedicated father of five daughters, a devoted husband, and a passionate advocate for Jewish Sovereignty and the safety, security, and dignity of Jewish lives in Judea and Samaria.
