Netael Bandel
Israel Hayom, Jan. 16, 2024
“… not only is there no basis for a decision establishing suspicion of genocide, but in practical terms, it actually undermines the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In essence, it turns the convention into a certificate of immunity for terrorist organizations who themselves carry out proven acts of genocide, as we ourselves witnessed first-hand on October 7.”
A patriotic Israeli journalist would find it extremely challenging to refer to the hearings in The Hague with the degree of objectivity required in the legal profession, and that is probably not such a bad thing. Having said that; however, we can sum up the situation as follows: after a good and very worrying opening by the South African prosecution, some sense of a comeback was felt following the highly impressive appearance of the Israeli defense team. To the extent that this was in general a legal hearing, rather than a diplomatic session under the guise of a legal proceeding, then the team managed to touch on the correct points and even launched a counter-offensive against South Africa itself.
Notwithstanding; however, the assumption is that the court will respond to the prosecution’s motion to issue provisional measures (the international law equivalent of an interim injunction) – though these might well be ‘toned-down’ provisional measures that will not put an end to the fighting but might well limit it.
Israel’s statement of defense left no stone unturned and refined the moral and legal mandate that forms the basis of Israel’s various military actions in the Gaza Strip. As far as the South African claims regarding the various comments made by senior Israelis are concerned, the defense team explained that most of these individuals are not members of any relevant decision-making forums. What is more, those same decision-making forums, including the prime minister himself, outrightly condemned such remarks. Other statements made, such as those of the Minister of Defense, for example, can only be interpreted as having been made in relation to the destruction of the Hamas terrorist organization and all its individual terrorists, and clearly not the civilian population in Gaza. … [To read the full article, click here]