Altman, a U.S. district court judge for the Southern District of Florida, has made several trips to Israel with fellow American judges. Together, they traveled throughout the country, including the West Bank. Through a judge’s discerning eye, Altman presents his fellow judges and readers with well-documented evidence that Israeli activities are “quintessentially legal.”

Altman attacks with disdain disinformation at every level. He points out that many of the sanctimonious organizations that back the Arabs, such as Human Rights Watch and the celebrated Amnesty International, are gullible. Rather than using a methodology in pursuit of the truth, they indulge in the myth that Israel is an apartheid state. They do not certify the fact that all citizens of Israel, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or religion, are entitled to equal rights guaranteed to them by Israel’s Declaration of Independence. He points out that attackers repeatedly invoke the poisonous word “apartheid” without discerning the difference between the racially separated caste system of apartheid South Africa and the total freedom that all Israeli citizens enjoy at every level. Specifically, he points out how Israeli Arabs attend universities and have broken the “glass ceiling,” becoming doctors, pharmacists, police officers, judges, and politicians.

Born in Venezuela, Altman graduated from Yale Law School and became the youngest ever federal district court judge in the country. Prior to October 7, 2023, he considered himself a “fair judge and model American citizen.” After that shocking date, he actively stepped up to defend Israel. His contribution has included accompanying U.S. legal professionals to Israel so that they can see the facts for themselves, effectively putting “Israel on Trial.”

In Israel on Trial, Altman systematically and compellingly evaluates centuries of history, archaeology, international law, and other evidence to document Jewish settlement and activity in what is now the West Bank. He proves his thesis unemotionally and meticulously, demonstrating that Israeli Jews are not colonizers, apartheid mongers, occupiers, or perpetrators of genocide. Step by step, he applies a jurist’s reason and common sense to the major accusations against Israel, pursuing what he calls “truth guides” rather than what he terms “standard diplomatic history.”

Judith Friedman Rosen
New York