Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor responded to the decision of Brazil to recall its ambassador to Israel by dubbing the country a 'diplomatic dwarf' and referencing the country's 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup.
Israel's response is perfectly proportionate and in accordance with international law. This is not football. In football, a draw is a proportionate scoreline. 7-1 is a disproportionate scoreline. Sorry to say, but this not so in real life and under international law.
To translate this rather confused sounding statement, Palmor's point was that the rate of casualties on either side in a conflict is not equivalent to the scoreline in a game of football. So, while 7-1 might seem a disproportionate scoreline, the differences in the casualty rate between the Palestinians and the Israeli's were not, in Palmor's view, disproportionate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBHxWdX7Xxg#t=36
@willyanluemi proportionality in intl' law is NOT as in football, but many people make that mistake and think in football terms about wars
— Yigal Palmor (@YigalPalmor) July 25, 2014
@willyanluemi In football, the score may give a sense of proportionality. But war is NOT football, and body count is NOT a "score"! — Yigal Palmor (@YigalPalmor) July 25, 2014
@willyanluemi Proportionality in intl' law means using means proportional with the concrete military threat to be removed
— Yigal Palmor (@YigalPalmor) July 25, 2014
Football reared its head in the Israeli-Paelstinian conflict earlier today when Joey Barton railed against what was happening and clashed with Israeli ex-teammate Yossi Benyaoun. A couple of months ago, George Galloway wrote to the every member of the PFA looking for donations to help fund the re-building of the destroyed Palestinian football stadium in Gaza,. Here is the precise amount he raised.
