South Africa vs. Israel: How both countries came to face each other at the International Court of Justice

This Thursday the 11th, a historic process officially began in The Hague when South Africa presented before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) an accusation against Israel for allegedly violating the Convention for the Prevention of Genocide, in reference to the war it has waged against Hamas since October 7 of last year.

LOOK: Israeli justice rejects requests for access to Gaza from international media

The conflict between the Hebrew state and Hamas began after the Palestinian extremist group carried out a series of terrorist attacks that left around 1,200 dead in southern Israel.

In response, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government promised to “annihilate” Hamas, so that same day it began massive bombings of the Gaza Strip. Twenty days later, the Israelis added to these attacks with a ground military incursion.

To date, at least 23,469 people (many minors and women among them) have died in the Palestinian enclave according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health. Israel distrusts this figure and assures that the group usually exaggerates the figures it reports by 70%.

– The most serious accusation possible –

In 1948 the UN drafted the Genocide Convention in response to the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews during World War II.

The United Nations defines genocide as an act “committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.

To date, 153 states have subscribed to the convention, which obliges them to abide by the decisions made by the ICJ in cases of this type.

For the ICJ to determine that a government has committed or is committing genocide, two elements must be demonstrated. First, prove that illegal acts have been committed. And second, that said acts were intended to destroy a certain group.

In the past, the ICJ has only introduced provisional measures against Myanmar and Russia over accusations of genocide, but has so far not officially declared that any country has committed such a crime.

On December 29, 2023, after a series of calls for Israel to cease its offensive on Gaza, South Africa decided to denounce the Jewish country before the ICJ for genocide.

Eliav Lieblich, professor of international law at Tel Aviv University, explained to the American network CNN that “An accusation of genocide is the most serious international legal accusation that can be made against a State”.

– The South African lawsuit –

In the 84-page document presented to the court, South Africa claims that Israel’s attacks “aim to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group” including “killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious physical and mental harm, and inflicting living conditions calculated to bring about their physical destruction”.

As part of their accusation, the South Africans place special emphasis on the statements of different Israeli leaders, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu or other members of his cabinet.

It is important to highlight that to achieve this new mandate Netanyahu had to ally himself with the most radical right in Israel. Before the war, this had already caused an internal crisis in the country due to the caliber of expressions usually offered by the main representatives of said political spectrum.

With this historic accusation against the country, many Israelis claim that it is largely due to the words of these political leaders.

The governments of Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Turkey and Malaysia have supported the lawsuit presented by South Africa. Pretoria has also requested that the ICJ issue “provisional measures” – that is, a temporary order to suspend actions – against Israel until a final ruling is reached.

Various judicial experts have estimated that it could take years for the court to reach a final verdict. However, it would take just weeks for him to issue some type of preventive measure that would lead to suspending the military campaign on Gaza.

– The Israeli response –

Unlike the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel does recognize the authority of the ICJ, so far from ignoring the case – as it did at the time with the court’s verdict on the border wall with the West Bank – this time it will have to defend themselves in court.

The person in charge of carrying out the Israeli legal defense will be Aharon Barak, 87 years old and former president of the country’s Supreme Court of Justice.

In that sense, the Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected “with disgust the defamation” from South Africa, a country that he also accused of acting as “legal arm of the terrorist organization Hamas” and have “completely distorted the reality of Gaza after the massacre of October 7”.

The United States, Israel’s main international ally, has also spoken out, describing it as “unfounded” the accusations against the Hebrews.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, for his part, assured that his army is acting “the most moral way“possible and what does”everything possible to avoid harming civilians” during their operations in Gaza.

In that sense, the spokesman for the Israeli government, Eylon Levy, accused Pretoria of measuring with double standards because on the one hand it accuses the Hebrews and on the other it supports the former president of Sudan, Omar al Bashir, against whom an arrest warrant has been issued. by the ICC.

It should be remembered that South Africa also did not support the ICC resolution in which Vladimir Putin was found guilty of war crimes in the context of the invasion of Ukraine.