TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Paul Burch on Nov 30, 2023

The American Bar Association (ABA) announced it has withdrawn two recent statements on the conflict in Israel and Gaza following a backlash from hundreds of lawyers, the ABA Journal reports. The two statements on the Israel-Hamas war made by ABA President Mary Smith on Oct. 9 and Oct. 17 have been replaced with a one-sentence explanation saying they have been withdrawn. Critics said Smith’s statements about “all parties” stopping hostilities and upholding international law were “deeply flawed” because they wrongly suggested Israel was guilty of war crimes and that the conduct of the two governments was equivalent. An ABA spokesperson told Law.com and the ABA Journal that the statements were removed “because they were no longer timely.”