Beyond her discussion of Eichmann himself, Arendt discusses several additional aspects of the trial, its context, and the Holocaust.
- She points out that Eichmann was kidnapped by Israeli agents in Argentina and transported to Israel, an illegal act, and that he was tried in Israel even though he was not accused of committing any crimes there. "If he had not been found guilty before he appeared in Jerusalem, guilty beyond any reasonable doubt, the Israelis would never have dared, or wanted, to kidnap him in formal violation of Argentine law."
- She describes his trial as a show trial arranged and managed by Prime Minister Ben-Gurion, and says that Ben-Gurion wanted, for several political reasons, to emphasize not primarily what Eichmann had done, but what the Jews had suffered during the Holocaust.[11] She points out that the war criminals tried at Nuremberg were "indicted for crimes against the members of various nations," without special reference to the Nazi genocide against the Jews.
- She questions Israel's right to try Eichmann. Israel was a signatory to the 1950 UN Genocide Convention, which rejected universal jurisdiction and required that defendants be tried "in the territory of which the act was committed" or by an international tribunal. The court in Jerusalem did not pursue either option.[12]
- Eichmann's deeds were not crimes under German law, as, at that time, in the eyes of the Third Reich, he was a law-abiding citizen. He was tried for 'crimes in retrospect'.[13]
- The prosecutor, Gideon Hausner, followed the tone set by Prime Minister Ben-Gurion, who stated, "It is not an individual nor the Nazi regime on trial, but antisemitism throughout history." Hausner's corresponding opening statements, which heavily referenced biblical passages, was "bad history and cheap rhetoric," according to Arendt. Furthermore, it suggested that Eichmann was no criminal, but the "innocent executor of some foreordained destiny."[14]
