Two serious problems plague the hearing against Israel in The Hague over "genocide" in Gaza. One was the very existence of this hearing. The second was the seriousness and attention we Israelis gave it.
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Rationally, of course, everyone understands that this case is rigged against us and no one harbors any expectations for an impartial interpretation of the law; but emotionally, the Jews are a nation of lawyers, and when a tribunal convenes, we cannot turn our gaze away. It's an innate flaw we have.
Having said that, the presentation case made by South Africa at the International Court of Justice was unfortunately well thought out. It was one of those cases where the lawyers managed to awe with their poetic language even if the legal argument was divorced from reality. Even three-year-olds would be able to conclude that accusing Israel of genocide is ridiculous and far-fetched, but why let the facts get in the way? Just ask Alfred Dreyfus.
Israel's representatives at the court, and anyone following the hearing from afar, had to listen for three hours to endless smears and slanders. One of the prosecution representatives went so far as to mention the Genocide Convention that served as the legal foundation for the International Court of Justice. In a somber tone, prosecutors noted that the convention "was written in 1946 with the aim of preventing the killing of human beings or seriously harming them because of their national, ethnic, religious and racial affiliation, and with the intention of completely or partially destroying members of the group, regardless of individual guilt". Indeed, it is an important mention. The not-so-honorable lawyers forgot to mention just one detail – the people for whom the convention was written after World War II.
In other words – and this will undoubtedly be mentioned Friday when Israel puts forth its rebuttal at The Hague – the Jewish people who brought the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" into the world – and were therefore attacked throughout history more than any other nation – are the last who need to be told why people and nations should not be killed. But surprisingly, one of the prosecutors found it appropriate to waste the court's precious time on this elementary matter. Against the spectacle of distortion and perversion, Israel's representatives will show the opening event of the war – a chapter that the South Africans of course skipped over. The crimes against humanity committed by Hamas, which one can only hope will be presented in all their horror, will make it clear to any decent person who is striving for genocide if only it were in their power. The Hamas charter speaks for itself.
And yet, one cannot expect the judges to be persuaded. After all, the members of the Hague court were elected by the UN General Assembly, whose attitude towards Israel is well known. In any case, in the lexicon of international law, Israel was the aggressor and criminal long before the war; a fair discussion will not emerge.
What can still be cleared from the table? Anyone who still claims that the prosecution in The Hague was born because of the extreme statements of right-wing lawmakers such as Itamar Ben Gvir" does not know what he is talking about and does not understand what and who we are up against.
South Africa's foreign minister mainly cited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who compared Hamas to Amalek), Minister Benny Gantz, and President Isaac Herzog, as the heads of state who allegedly ordered the genocide. This shows that we are all in the same boat here, from the Right, from the Left, and from all the other shades in between. Those who still fail to see this, those who still live in the bubble of the domestic blame game have apparently not grasped why the war broke out.
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