Occupied Jerusalem – Israel is awaiting with fear the session of the International Court of Justice in The Hague next week to discuss the lawsuit filed by South Africa against the Israeli occupation army, in which it accuses it of committing “genocide” crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Estimates of political and legal analysts unanimously agree that the Israeli establishment fears the repercussions of the international court session that comes at the height of the war on the Gaza Strip, and anticipates that the deliberations and the decisions it issues will be the beginning of criminalizing Israel for committing war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
According to international law experts, this procedure in the International Court of Justice may determine the nature of the charges of genocide committed by the occupation army in Gaza, causing its political isolation and boycott, or imposing sanctions on Israel or Israeli companies.
In light of the fear that the court in The Hague, in its session, which will be held on Thursday, January 11, will issue an immediate restrictive ruling ordering Tel Aviv to cease fire and military operations in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided that Israel will appear before the international court, and will even be considered. In adding an Israeli judge on her behalf, in a decision considered unprecedented and unusual.
Joint defensive team
Netanyahu issued instructions to the diplomatic level, the military establishment, and the judiciary to form a joint ministerial team, which began preparing to draft a defense statement to respond to the petition submitted by South Africa to the court in The Hague, which accuses Israel of committing genocide crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Maariv newspaper’s political affairs correspondent, Anna Brasky, quoted high-level Israeli diplomatic sources as saying that it was unanimously decided by all security, foreign policy and intelligence agencies that it was necessary to fight what they described as a “blood conspiracy” embodied in accusations of “genocide.”
Brasky pointed out that Israel is a member of the Convention against Genocide, and at this stage, the political affairs correspondent says, “Israel has no reason to boycott the session, and the blame falls on those who make the baseless claim and not on the court that is obligated to consider the lawsuit filed.” “In front of her.”
In an indication that reflects the concerns of the political level in Tel Aviv regarding the repercussions of the lawsuit in the International Court on Israel in all fields, political affairs correspondent for the Walla website, Barak Ravid, reported that Netanyahu is examining the possibility of American lawyer Alan Dershowitz pleading for Israel in the hearing that will be held in The Hague. next week.
Ravid explained that Israel can be represented in the court session by 4 lawyers, noting that the political level is working to find international human rights lawyers of high standing in order to help convince the court of the Israeli position, and to respond to South Africa’s appeals and requests.
Ravid says that the Israeli government will work to mobilize and recruit support from various countries to support its position and accept its narrative, pointing out that Netanyahu will not attend the session, but he may send a message to the court challenging the petition submitted by South Africa.
Genocide crimes
South Africa asked the court to issue an explanatory order confirming that Israel is committing acts that constitute genocide in Gaza, and to demand that it work to stop them immediately, which means issuing an immediate precautionary order obligating the Israeli occupation army to cease fire in the Gaza Strip, according to what the judicial affairs correspondent for the newspaper reported. “Haaretz” when I suffered.
According to Maanit, the Israeli defense team consists of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Military Prosecutor’s Office and the National Security Council, and its main goal at the present time is to prevent any possibility of the court responding to South Africa’s request for a restraining order to continue the fighting.
Among the steps that Israel is considering, Maanit says, is “appointing a judge on its behalf to participate in the hearing of the petition.” In accordance with this procedure, a respondent State appearing before the Court may add a judge to a panel of 15 judges. South Africa can also request that a judge be appointed on its behalf.
The security establishment and the Israeli Attorney General’s Office fear that “the International Court of Justice in The Hague will attribute the crimes of genocide in the Gaza Strip to Israel.”
He pointed out that a senior jurist dealing with this matter warned senior Israeli army officials, including Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, that there was a real danger that the court would issue an order ordering Israel to immediately stop firing in Gaza.
Extremist statements
According to the lawsuit filed by South Africa, the allegations regarding Israel’s intentions to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip are supported by quotes from several senior Israeli officials, starting with President Isaac Herzog and ending with Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu.
Lawyer Nick Kaufman, an expert in international law who appears before the courts in The Hague, says that Israel must claim that such statements by Minister Eliyahu that “dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza is one way” and others like them are populist statements directed at an extremist audience and have nothing to do with politics. Israeli.
For his part, lawyer Michael Sivard, an expert in international law and human rights, accused senior officials in the judiciary in Israel of not acting against the extremist statements of Israeli officials, as he called on the government’s judicial advisor, Gali Beharav Meara, to take action against ministers, the Knesset, and members who call for ethnic cleansing and genocide. .
In turn, Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said, “Israel signed the Convention against Genocide decades ago, and we will certainly not boycott the discussion and deliberations of the international court. We will appear before the court, and we will reject the absurd lawsuit that constitutes a bloody conspiracy against Israel.”
To justify the military operations carried out by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip, which target civilians, Hanegbi said, “Similar cruelty was used against the citizens of Israel last October 7. The claim to the International Court is baseless against the victim’s right to self-defense.” “.
