SA actions disgust US Congress members
• More than 200 legislators furious at ‘dangerous’ genocide allegations
More than 200 members of the US Congress have launched a blistering attack on SA’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), denouncing Pretoria’s “deeply hostile” position towards the Jewish state and urging the Biden administration to reject its charge of genocide.
The ICJ confirmed it will deliver judgment on Friday on SA’s request for a provisional ruling ordering Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza. SA said it is “necessary in this case to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people”.
In a bipartisan letter dated January 23 and addressed to US secretary of state Antony Blinken, the legislators expressed “disgust” at SA’s “grossly unfounded and dangerous allegations” against Israel.
The case was launched in December after Israel’s military action in Gaza killed more than 23,000 Palestinians. Israel was responding to the storming of communities in October, in which Hamas killed 1,139 people and took 240 hostages.
“We vigorously denounce SA’s deeply hostile stance towards Israel and thoroughly reject its charge of genocide.
“We urge you to continue to do the same, to offer Israel all appropriate support in opposing the SA application to the ICJ, and to encourage our allies to join us in speaking out against this unfounded attack on Israel, particularly at the UN and in other intergovernmental organisations,” the letter reads.
The letter was signed by 146 Republicans and 64 Democrats, including Congress heavyweights and prominent proIsrael voices such as Gregory Meeks, the Democratic chair of the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee; Elise Stefanik, the Republican conference chair; and Steve Scalise, the Republican whip and House majority leader.
The US and SA have a strong economic and political relationship, with Washington being one of Pretoria’s largest trading partners and a major source of foreign aid and investment. The US also co-operates with SA on issues such as regional stability and climate change.
FRIENDS
The letter has the potential to heap pressure on US President Joe Biden to take strong action against SA as it shows a rare unified voice from Congress in support of Israel. It could also provide another test for SA to choose its friends as the bipartisan consensus on the issue could isolate SA from some of its traditional partners in the West, which share the US’s opposition to the ICJ case.
SA’s case, which was heard at The Hague earlier in January, has been supported by more than 70 countries, including members of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the 22-member Arab League, Bolivia, Columbia and
Brazil. The US, Germany and France have, however, strongly condemned SA’s case.
The letter from the US legislators reads: “The SA accusation of genocide against Israel exposes how far Israel’s enemies will go in their attempts to demonise the Jewish state.
“While barely acknowledging the Hamas terrorists who gleefully massacred, mutilated, raped and kidnapped innocent civilians on October 7, SA makes grossly unfounded and defamatory charges against Israel on the world stage, abusing the judicial process in order to delegitimise the democratic state of Israel.”