No10 attacks irony of Israel genocide ruling

RISHI SUNAK condemned the “horrific irony” of the UN’s top court ruling yesterday that Israel must act to prevent genocide in Gaza.

No10 said the legal case aimed at stopping the war and accusing Israel of war crimes at the International Court of Justice was “completely unjustified”.

In a landmark hearing, judges at the UN-run ICJ yesterday said Israel must now face trial over possible genocide, but stopped short of issuing an order for it to stop the war in Gaza.

Its panel of 17 judges demanded Israel take measures to “prevent and punish” any acts of genocide in the enclave and provide more basic services and humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

The ruling and forthcoming trial is likely to put further pressure on Western backers of Israel and arms suppliers. Air raid sirens were sounded over Israel shortly after the judgment was handed down, where South African lawyers bringing the case cheered in celebration.

Hamas also hailed the ICJ’s ruling, saying it would isolate Israel and expose its crimes in Gaza. Asked for comment on the case, Downing Street referred

The Telegraph to a speech Mr Sunak gave to Conservative Friends of Israel on Monday. He said: “Anyone – or any organisation – that cannot unequivocally condemn the evil that Hamas did that day has no conscience, no morality, no decency and deserves no respect.

“I also reject any attempt to draw an equivalence between Israel’s actions and those of the terrorists...

“That is why this government has condemned the completely unjustified case that South Africa’s has brought to the International Court of Justice. There is a horrific irony in Israel, of all countries, being accused of genocide.”

The judgment came as the UN said it had fired members of staff in Gaza for allegedly taking part in the Oct 7 attacks.

The decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to press ahead in hearing a case of genocide against Israel will have profound implications for a country that relies on the support of others for its prosperity and security.

Israel has not been found guilty of humanity’s most heinous crime and, in all likelihood never will be, but the court ruled it was plausible a genocide was occuring in Gaza and said it would hear the landmark case, a process that could drag on for a decade or more.

“In the court’s view, at least some of the acts and omissions committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the genocide convention", said Justice Joan Donoghue, the US president of the court. “The court concludes it has prima facie jurisdiction to entertain the case on the basis of Article 9 of the Genocide Convention.”

Israel’s leadership dismissed the court’s central finding. The charge of genocide against Israel was “not only false, it’s outrageous”, and “decent people everywhere should reject it”, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister.

But will they? And even if they would like to, will their parliaments and domestic laws allow it?

Israel relies on its ability to trade freely for its prosperity and is dependent on the West – especially the US – for its military security. If this becomes impossible, either through the rise of consumer boycotts or formal sanctions, the country could quite quickly find itself facing an existential crisis.

It is, after all, surrounded by increasingly well-armed terrorist groups who are open in their genocidal intent and desire to erase the Jewish state from the map. Only last week Professor Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security advisor in Israel, warned the ongoing war in Gaza could cost Joe Biden a second term.

“I think our relationship with the United States is an existential one and the war with Hamas shows we are far more dependent on the US than we ever knew,” he told the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz.

Donald Trump has long argued that America should stay out of other people’s wars – not a good omen for the Jewish State.

In addition to taking the case forward, the ICJ issued a series of “provisional measures” on Friday – legally binding orders on Israel designed to limit harm to Palestinians in Gaza.

They include an order that Israel should take steps to “prevent and punish” incitement to genocide and to ensure basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

It is likely Israel’s adherence, or lack of, to these measures will determine if the West continues to support it.

If it refuses to comply, it will find itself in breach of international law, which will in turn trigger arms export bans and other sanctions – some automatic.

The EU said yesterday it expects a “full and immediate” implementation of the ICJ ruling.

There is a long-standing machismo in Israeli political culture that was vital for its early survival but could yet prove to be its undoing. It still thinks of itself as “a villa in the jungle”, a “wall against barbarism”.

Friday’s ruling by the ICJ suggests Israel urgently needs to change course lest it sink into the same violent swamp.