Iran’s Attack on Israel
11 min read
Israel stands accused of genocide in the International Court of Justice. The accusation is baseless and wholly unfounded.
Israel is currently defending itself from accusations of genocide in the International Court of Justice. With much of the world uninformed about the many intricate details of the accusations, many are left with the general impression that Israel somehow must be guilty of the odious charges leveled against it. It’s a classic case of the question, “When did you stop beating your wife?” It is an absurd situation to find the victim of attempted genocide being accused of this heinous of all crimes.
Here are the answers to 5 common questions about the current trial, and advice for staying up to date with latest developments.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), sometimes known as the World Court, is the United Nations’ supreme court. It dates to 1945, when the UN was established and is located in the coastal Dutch city The Hague. The ICJ has many functions, including hearing disputes between states.
Jurisdiction
The ICJ doesn’t rule on individual behavior or criminality: that is the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is also based in The Hague. Unlike the ICJ, the ICC only has jurisdiction over people living in countries which have signed a treaty giving the ICC power to try its citizens. Fearing politically motivated prosecutions, Israel has chosen not to be a signatory to the ICC. (Lack of jurisdiction hasn’t stopped Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, Djibouti, and South Africa asking the ICC to begin investigating Israel for potential crimes.)
The ICJ has jurisdiction over Israel because Israel, like nearly every country around the world, signed the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (explained in more detail below). It’s this convention that the ICJ is now charged with deciding whether or not Israel violated.
Who are the Judges?
There are 15 ICJ judges who are elected by a majority of all UN members for nine-year terms. The current judges hail from Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Jamaica, Japan, Lebanon, Morocco, Russia, Slovakia, Somalia, Uganda, and the USA. Four of the judges (from Jamaica, Morocco, Russia, and the USA) are slated to end their terms in February 2024, in the midst of Israel’s trial, and will be replaced by new judges from Mexico, Romania, South Africa, and the USA.
Support for Hamas
South African President Cyrial Ramaphosa, suffering from dismal poll numbers, is seizing on this case as a way to distract South Africans from the country’s internal problems. “The war in Gaza is an opportunity to turn (Ramaphosa’s low approval rating) around,” notes The Economist. It quotes South African analyst Ronak Gopaldas: “The ANC (Ramaphosa’s party) is trying to elevate this into an election issue, to potentially try and distract from some of the core economic issues.”
Hamas is very popular in South Africa. When South Africa officially marked the 10th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death on December 5, 2023, a Hamas delegation was given pride of place in the official parade; Hamas official Bassem Naim laid a wreath at the official statue honoring Mandela along with South Africa’s Social-Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu. This alliance goes back decades, when the African National Congress (ANC), the current governing party, identified with the PLO, Hamas, and other violent anti-Israel groups as a model of political insurgency.
Protesters wave flags and pictures of the hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024.
Immediately after Hamas’ brutal October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which saw 1,200 people tortured and killed, thousands injured, and approximately 240 people taken hostage, South Africa’s Foreign Minister, Naledi Pandor, telephoned Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and expressed her support for the terrorist group. She later traveled to Tehran, where she met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Hamas’ sponsor. In November 2023, South Africa recalled its Ambassador and all diplomatic staff from its embassy in Israel, and demanded that Israel shut down its embassy in Pretoria as well.
Moral Bankruptcy
South Africa’s self-professed concern with genocide rings hollow in light of its government’s recent actions. On January 4, President Ramaphosa hosted a state visit with one of the world’s most notorious war criminals who’s been accused of genocide: Sudanese warlord Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, whole fearsome Arab-led Janjaweed militia is killing thousands of Black Africans with impunity. Exactly one week later, on January 11, South Africa filed an official case with the ICJ accusing Israel of genocide.
Precedent
It’s notable that the case against Israel is being brought by South Africa, a nation over 5,000 miles away from the Middle East with seemingly few ties to the region, besides an ardent support for Israel’s most violent enemies.
In 2022, the ICJ accepted a claim from the African nation of Gambia to investigate charges of genocide in Myanmar, a country with which Gambia has few ties. The court accepted this case, setting the precedent that any nation that is a signatory to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide can bring charges against any other signatory.
The South African legal team is being led by John Dugard, a Trustee of the British activist group Law4Palestine, which seeks to prosecute Israel in courts around the world. He is charging that Israel has violated the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The term genocide was coined in 1944, at the height of the Holocaust, by Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish jurist who’d managed to escape from Poland to the United States.
By ‘genocide’ we mean the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group. This new word…is made from the ancient Greek word genos (race, tribe) and Latin cide (Killing)...It is intended…to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group. (Quoted in Axis Rule in Occupied Europe by Raphael Lemkin: 1944.)
Four years later, an international Convention on Genocide was drafted, signed by most nations in the world, which Israel is now accused of violating. The Convention is broad. It defines genocide as: “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
South Africa contends that Israel has violated the terms of the 1948 Convention by killing large numbers of people, particularly children; evacuating Gazans from their homes; imposing blockades on food, water and medicine; and preventing Gazan births by forcing hospitals in Gaza to close. The facts that Hamas embeds itself in civilian populations in Gaza; uses hospitals, schools, mosques, and apartment buildings as military centers; and that Israel instructed civilians to flee from war zones in northern Gaza for their own safety went unsaid.
In its initial three-hour presentation, South African lawyers charged Israel with systematically killing and maiming civilians with genocidal intent. Lawyer Adila Hassim asserted that Israel’s “first genocidal act is mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza,” adding that Israel spared nobody, including newborn babies in its murderous killing sprees. She contended that Israel also engaged in genocidal behavior by inflicting “serious bodily or mental harm” on Gazans by fighting Hamas.
A second South African lawyer, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, described inflammatory comments made by Israeli leaders speaking about Hamas. He pointed especially to words said by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to soldiers about to enter Gaza to locate Hamas members to “remember what Amalek has done to you” (Deuteronomy 25:17), referring to an ancient tribe which tried to wipe out the people of Israel and whom the Israelites were commanded to destroy. “This refers to the biblical command by God to Saul for the retaliatory destruction of an entire group of people,” Ngcukaitobi argued.
Shielding Hamas
South Africa has also emphasized that Hamas is not a signatory to the 1948 Convention, and so cannot be tried for genocide, circumventing efforts to bring the terrorist group which is still attacking Israel to justice.
Other Nations Joining the Case
Since filing its case, South Africa has been joined by other countries and organizations, including Bolivia, Columbia, Brazil, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter has encouraged Belgium to formally support South Africa’s case.
Israel’s legal team responded to South Africa’s accusations on Friday, January 12, pointing out that Israel is engaged in the legitimate military goal of rooting out Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that has vowed to repeat October 7-style attacks “again and again”, which continues to fire deadly rockets at Israeli civilian populations, continues to hold over 130 Israelis captive in Gaza, and embeds itself in population centers, turning all of Gazans into human shields. As it fights this relentless foe, Israeli troops, far from trying to maximize civilian casualties or commit genocide, are risking troops’ lives by engaging in surgical strike and careful urban warfare, trying to eliminate Hamas while minimizing civilian casualties.
Israeli lawyer Dr. Tal Becker dismissed South Africa’s case as “a grossly distorted story” with “curated” accusations. “If there were acts of genocide, they have been perpetrated against Israel,” he noted, as Israel hunts for Hamas fighters who are hiding in a civilian population while continuing to lob missiles at Israel and promise to carry out future mass attacks. Israel has a right to defend itself, he asserted: “The appalling suffering of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, is first and foremost the result of Hamas strategy.”
Dr. Becker continued: “If the claim of the applicant is that Israel must be denied the ability to defend citizens, the absurd upshot is that under guise of genocide claims this court is trying to stop Israel defending its civilians against an organization which pursues a genocidal agenda against them.” He emphasized that Israel is dedicated to following international agreements on the rules of war, “but it does so in the face of Hamas’ utter contempt for the law.”
Speaking for Israel’s team, another lawyer, Prof. Malcolm Shaw, asserted that South Africa’s claim seemed to preclude any and all military action. “Not every conflict is genocidal,” he argued. “The crime of genocide in international law and under the Genocide Convention is a uniquely malicious manifestation and stands alone among violations of international law as a zenith of evil, the crime of crimes, ultimate in wickedness.”
The Israeli team argued that individual inflammatory statements, such as Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calling Hamas attackers “human animals” in announcing a blockade on goods entering Gaza two days after the October 7 attack, or the calls of some individual Israeli politicians to reestablish Israeli settlements in Gaza (Israel ordered all Jews to leave Gaza - even removing Jewish graves - in 2005) do not represent an official Israeli policy of dehumanization and genocide.
United States’ National Security Council spokesman John Kirby called the genocide allegations “unfounded,” saying, “That’s not a word that ought to be thrown around lightly, and we certainly don’t believe that it applies here.”
US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said, “It is those who are violently attacking Israel who continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews…
Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas’s terrorist acts — acts that Hamas has vowed to repeat again and again until Israel is completely destroyed.”
South Africa and Israel have presented their arguments. South Africa has requested that the ICJ impose emergency measures to stop Israel’s military engagement with Hamas. The Court does have this ability - in practice, it could conceivably instruct the UN to intervene to stop Israel from fighting - but in practice the Court will take many years to issue a ruling.
Recognizing this, South Africa has requested Provisional Measures, also called Emergency Measures, ordering Israel to stop all military activity in Gaza. A ruling on this could come within a few weeks. If the ICJ issues these Measures, Israel would have no right to appeal. The ICJ has no way of enforcing Provisional Measures, but violating them would weaken Israel’s standing in the international community.
In the coming weeks, we all will hear more about this outrageous, baseless case. It’s imperative to stay informed so that you can speak out when you hear Israel being slandered.
Russia is guilty on almost all counts so having them preside is ludicrous to say the least. South Africa? The ANC? Groomed by the Kremlin for decades, the highest rate of rape (of children and babies as well) in the world, extremely high murder rates, total corruption leaving the country bleeding. They have destroyed it economically. The ANC are terrorists themselves and use a similar rhetoric as the 'palestinian' supporters. Nongqawuse was a young Xhosa girl who claimed that the ancestors who had appeared to them said: The dead would arise, all living cattle would have to be slaughtered and the whites will be driven into the sea, it goes on but this is the gist of it.
Genicide is a crime by any military or militant,but put an end to it ,by discussion,debate and negotiation.War begets war.It is Good to settel by agreement.
Settle what? Hamas won’t stop killing Israeli citizens whatever the court says and Israel cannot afford to cease defending herself. It’s a useless farce.
Am bothered by South Africa's position on this issue. The current ANC leaders of South Africa have no sense of direction. Under their watch xenophobia has become an official south Africa policy against other Africa nationals resident in South Africa. They have always looked the other way when their idle/ jobless youths engage in killing of other Africans and looting their properties, instead of tackling that, they are supporting a group that committed such a crime against a nation and are spending their resources sponsoring their legal team to chase a wild goose in Hague. Israel have the right to defend her citizens and must do that by chasing the enemy out of town completely. The Gaza civilian population who are complicit should have considered the outcome while offering their homes as mi
I am a catholic christian and I do agree with the measures taken by the Israeli state to defend its citizens.
Peace be with you brothers.
Proudly supporting Yisrael ✡️
I have asked what the Torah says about genocide. Mine is a sincere question coming from a non-religious Jew living outside of Israel. There is comment after comment appealing for the support of people like me, yet, rather than answering my questions directly, you delete my questions.
Let me tell you plainly ... you are losing my support and likely the support of others like me.
It was the Prime Minister of Israel, an official representative of Israeli policy, who said (in Hebrew): “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.”
Frankly, I'm shocked at how you've dismissed my comments.
You mean that you, a woke, are shocked that there are Jews who are proud to be Jews?
No, we will not cower or hide.
No, we will not be their dhimmis.
No, we will not surrender.
What is it that you don't understand?
What is your question exactly? The prime minister referenced amalek in the context of destroying Hamas. South Africa & their ilk conflate the civilians and Hamas. That's not an accident. The Arab militants are dressed in jeans and t-shirt 👕 so they intentionally blur the distinction.
The Torah certainly doesn't condone genocide. Amalek is the only exception due to the circumstances. This isn't relevant nowadays.
If people think that they can gain the support of others, Jewish or non-Jewish, by avoiding the issues, they are badly mistaken.
The impression I’m getting is that you just don’t like our answers. Well, we won’t cringe to make you feel good - cf. Robert Whig’s post.
Thank you for informing us. I never agreed with our country's decision to take Israel to court. ANC failed to curb the rising crime rate in our country and what more with war that had been there for centuries? Something we read about in the bible? ANC thinking that they can have influence. So embarrassing. They should have weighed themselves 1st. As a black South African, I apologize on behalf of our government. I am even ashamed to be called South African right now. Proudly ✡️ AM YISRAEL CHAI
Thank you!
Please don't forget that the ANC was unable to satisfy a Supreme Court judgment against it for payment of R100million. After a state visit to Qatar and Iran they suddenly had money to pay their debt and this action was commenced
I’m not a Jew but, I support the right of the government of Israel to defend its citizens against the terrorist gangs who seek to destroy the nation and citizens of Israel.
Whatever happens, we must cling more closely than ever to Israel.
It's the only piece of land that we've got, the only land that is ours.
There must also be a change in the mindset of every Jew everywhere.
It doesn't matter if you live in America, you must think of yourself as an Israeli first and an American second.
The same goes for Jews living in other countries.
Am Yisrael Chai!
A conviction is a foregone conclusion.
It's nothing more than a kangaroo court.
It has been said that, the first casuality in any war is the Truth. I fear that anyone who "has an axe to grind" is using the horrific events of October 7 to lay blame squarely on Israel. It is a sad world that accepts mistruths so easily.
The nation Israel is being made out to be the perpetrators.
I am a South African Jew and a VERY proud Zionist!! Please know that many here are HORRIFIED by the actions of our "government," who have done nothing but pillage, steal and cause the demise of a very beautiful country with very beautiful people. The driving force is undoubtedly money, nothing more and nothing less. They are financially bankrupt (morally too of course) and this revolting action they have taken is to receive funding to help their pending bankruptcy (morally too of course). They are more than willing to bring shame on our country in order to sort out their dire finances as a result of their thieving. Many starving and desperate people here and they don't give a damn! My heart breaks for our land and more for my beloved Eretz Israel. Am Israel Chai!
I fear for the future.
We all know that this kangaroo court will come down against Israel.
So what are we going to do then?
They will issue a judgment against Israel which Israel will ignore.
As they have no way of enforcing their judgment, they will cast Israel as a pariah nation.
The future is not good, not good at all.
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. The whole ICJ are there for self glory not to solve anything and that is why I feel, Israel DOES NOT BELONG AMONGST these Cretins. These Cretins are there to suck Israel's blood as they are Cretins. I would not give them the satisfaction for obtaining anything
Genocide happened under South Africa's nose in Rwanda. Here's a war started by Hamas. Sadly, people are dying more on the side of Palestine, though. So the right thing to do,in my opinion, is to work honestly for a ceasefire not this shout of genocide. By the way, genocide is unjewish. Palestine needs an independent state and Israel needs security guarantees. Hamas and supporters are bent on the distruction of Israel as a state.
There already is a state for what you call "Palestine"; it's name is Jordan. Read up on the history and you'll find that the UN partition of the land allotted a bigger chunk to the Arabs but they couldn't tolerate the idea of Jews reclaiming any piece of the ancient Jewish homeland. What followed is the disaster Arabs created for themselves by repeatedly trying to destroy Israel!
The history of the region has unfortunately proven that our enemies want to have our cake and eat it too. If you just look at what they've done to Gaza, you'll see that their hatred is leading them well on their way to self-destruction.
Remember, please, that Israel's actions are always defensive, not to mention that our soldiers endanger themselves to save enemy civilians. No such precedence in the world!
it is hamas who is making south africa believe, that in gaza or in israel, there is an issue of apartheid just has it was in south africa. but Apartheid is not the same as genocide. the situation is not like in south africa.
the case in the hague is more a procedural case, the convention says before bringing a case of genocide you need to discuss this with the country in question. south africa did not do that, otherwise they would have been told that, in Israel it is not a case of apartheird. south africa should know that blacks and whites are jews, and that the jewish race is not defined by the color of the person.
genocide is was happend to jews when they were killed for 6 years in industrial terms in gaz chambers.
Thank you for your comment. Israel removed all Jewish towns from Gaza in 2005. Hamas has governed Gaza since then, with a budget of billions of dollars. Economists talk about the choice between guns and butter: for nearly two decades, Hamas has ruined Gaza, choosing to build a massive army and war machine instead of providing for civilians.
I am very bothered by: "The Israeli team argued that individual inflammatory statements, such as Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ... do not represent an official Israeli policy of dehumanization and genocide."
Both governmental and non-governmental individuals have made inflammatory statements. Do some of these statements show genocidal intention?
I have seen many references comparing current events to Biblical events and their commandments. Do some of these show genocidal intention? Are there genocidal examples in the Bible?
What does it mean "to root out Hamas"? Has Israel chosen the most effective course to do this? Will the current action be successful?
Thank you for your comment. Israel's stated wartime aim is indeed to dismantle Hamas in Gaza, not to cause civilian deaths. Israel's Government maintains - and argued at the ICJ - that inflamatory and/or derogatory statements made in a private capacity by politicians do not reflect Israeli policy.
This is a very terrible time and many people - including Israelis - feel terrible that civilians are suffering in Gaza because of Hamas' behavior in using them as human shields. Yet the case against Israel is not that they have caused collatoral damage in their war with Hamas, but that they are deliberately trying to wipe out the people of Gaza as their aim in this war. That is not the case.
It is Hamas that has caused Israel to need to defend itself. Jews and Arabs have worked cooperatively for decades to share the land and resources between themselves. They cooperate to create new energy through solar projects and to fill the the Sea of Galilee with desalinated water for all to share.
Hamas understood that if the Israelis and the Saudis continued to cement their diplomatic relationship with Saudi Arabia officially recognizing Israel as a country and Jerusalem as its capital that the Hamas effort to kill all Jews would be harmed.
Hamas is the problem in this struggle. Hamas is a terrorist organization that seeks to kill any and all Jewish people, openly killing babies, the elderly, youth and innocent people. Hamas is evil incarnate.
From the River to the Sea All the Land should be Hamas-Free!
Yvette - what nonsense. The ANC is not going to get any electoral gain from this. If you knew anything about South Africa you would know voters are not voting on foreign policy. More importantly the small muslim population votes for Ramaphosa's oppostion. Do your homework.
Thank you for your comment. ANC supporters have traditionally been staunch advocates of Hamas. Since bringing this case, Mr. Ramaphosa's approval rating has risen substantially.
Israel, by virtue of being a country that answers to a higher authority, has EVERY right on earth to protect and safeguard the humans on their precious land. And THAT dear readers is exactly what this small country surrounded by enemies for centuries has been doing.
They do not see a child or woman and ask them- Jew? Palestinian? They do the humanitarian thing and HELP them. And yes there will be a few bad actors who make youthful mistakes in the line of service. That is not on the hands of Netanyahu. All humans deserve the same treatment in a crisis. You will NEVER see that with a body of actors who can take an infant and dangle him while decapitating him. And for all the women who have an opinion about leadership in the midst of this unexplainable evil; look inside yourselves.
This story ignores the reason for the existence of Hamas--Israeli incursion on native lands and homes. Of course, the primary difference is that Israel is an actual government, while Hamas is a terrorist organization. But Israel did not stop with establishing a homeland, it continued to expand and oust natives from their homes. The native population is economically deprived and the residents of Gaza have been both dying and suffering in large numbers. As a Jewish person, I struggle constantly with this divide.
As a Jewish person, you should know perfectly well that it is the Jews and not them who are the natives to the land.
We were there first.
It is our land.
We are the natives.
Read up on history! You believe a false narrative
From one Barbara to another: As others have implied, you need to do your homework instead of just swallowing evil lies of Arab propagandists!
I'll challenge your false charges as yet unaddressed: (1) Gazans are suffering because of Hamas, whom they support (despite the inhumanity) since they believe they'll get the rest of the land as easily as they got Gaza, which Hamas turned into rubble. (2) They're "deprived" because Hamas uses Arab megabuck donations to destroy (Israel, cv"s) rather than to build (Gaza). (3) Instead of expanding, as you incorrectly say, Israel left Gaza to autonomous Arab control in exchange for peace -- obviously a grave mistake to take devious liars at their word!
(4) As a Jew, where's your sympathy for Israeli suffering at the hands of brutes?
Not true. Check the historical record and you will find that Israel never launched any war for territory, but did capture territory as part of defensive actions. With a few notable exceptions, Israel would have returned the captured land immediately were it not for the Nos of the Arab League - basically all Arab leadership: No recognition, No negotiations, No peace with Israel. What’s a country to do when faced with such implacable enemies? Especially when they prove over and over that they have no limits to their inhumanity?
Most Arab entities have tremendous resources - but these are deliberately withheld from the common citizens, going firstly into the pockets of the Leaders and secondly into the terrorist infrastructure. So put the blame for the Arab misery on the true source.
Thank you for your comment. Israel has negotiated for a final two-state solution many times since gaining territories during the 1967 "Six Day" War; each time, even the most advanced and nearly-completed agreements have been abandoned by the PA. The attack on October 7 - which disproportinaltely harmed left-wing Israelis who were staunch advocates of coming to a two-state agreemenet - has indeed complicated this situation substantially. Please read English-language Israeli newspapers to get a sens of the politcal debate inside of Israel, as well.
So this ridiculous, obviously antisemitic case may be another nail in the UN’s coffin. The court’s inevitable anti-Israel ruling will be unenforceable, proving once again the pitifully weak status of the UN. Years ago, given the rampant criminality of UN “diplomats,” ranging from the serious—violence (domestic and otherwise) to the annoying (unpaid parking tickets), it was suggested the US throw the UN out of the country. What should be done with their building located on prime Manhattan real estate? George Will said: “Turn it into public housing.” To which let us all say, “Amen.”
Bebe has never wanted a two state solution EVER....Now his hands have blood them because of his ego and hate for the Palestinians. The settlements are illegal and have always been illegal. It's disgusting how Bebe and his radical right flank the Likud views the Palestinians children, and elder as mere collateral damage a necessity to his war.
Bebe is Trump and he is fine with his war in order to stay out of jail.
And your alternative is what exactly?
Hug a jihadi?
Help and support the people who hate us?
Ignorance is bliss!
Better to ignore fools letting off (misdirected) steam!
Nope, it is the PLO and Hamas that have said 'No" to all 26 proposals that included establishing a state for the Palestinians.
Thank you for your comment. Israel's war is currently being waged by a wartime coalition which is broader than Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition.
I think that Israel should bring Iran to the ICJ - they are calling for the genicide of Jewish people openly and created a multi state force including the terrorists of Hamas . Hezbollah and the Houthis.
But the UN and UNJ is corrupt and should be disbanded and replaced .
There are true genicides happening in Africa of Christians. And other places
I don't like the Iranian regime, but where are you getting that they are calling for Jewish genocide? One must distinguish between objecting to the political existence of the State of Israel as an ethnocentric state and calling for the eradication of Jews. Iran is not doing the latter and there would be no case no answer. The equivalent of what Iran stands for would be for the replacement of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a secular regime. That does not mean we want to kill Iranians.
You're joking, right? Iran funds terrorist organizations and celebrates when Jews are killed, and you call that "objecting to the political existence of ... Israel as an ethnocentric state"?!
You don't find Israeli Arabs desperate to leave, like Iranian Jews were.
(And btw, Jews are not the only ones Iran wishes to eradicate.)
It is a very risky strategy for Israel to have acknowledged the Court's authority and attended it.
What if the Court rules against Israel?
What then?
Israel should have ignored the Court and declared that it had no authority or jurisdiction.
Netanyahu has made a huge mistake.
How could Israel deny jurisdiction? It is a signatory of the treaty. If Israel fails to show, it loses by default. Israel wins nothing by not showing up; the judgment "in absentia" would be binding and the PR disaster ensues anyway.
Correct!
I’m sure this was not an easy decision for the Cabinet. As others said posted, an anti-Israel ruling is almost inevitable but at least by appearing Israel gets a chance to put her side on record.
Thank you for your comment. Fed Salinas, below, is correct. Because Israel is a signatory to the genocide convention, the ICJ has jurisdiction in Israel.