Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to the Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, wait for judges to enter the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 24, 2024 (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Responding to the International Court of Justice’s order demanding it halt Rafah operations to endanger Palestinian civilians, Israeli politicians accuse the tribunal of antisemitism and support for terrorism.
“There should only be one answer to the irrelevant order of the antisemitic court in The Hague: the occupation of Rafah, the increase of military pressure and the complete defeat of Hamas,” tweets National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “Our future does not depend on what the gentiles will say, but on what the Jews will do,” he adds, quoting Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.
Had this “antisemitic court” been active during the Holocaust, “it would undoubtedly have issued orders against the Allies,” declares Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf who is in Ben Gvir’s party.
“Those who demand that the State of Israel stop the war, demand that it decree the cessation of its existence — we will not agree to that,” argues Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. “We will continue to fight for ourselves and for the entire free world. History will judge who today stood by the Nazis of Hamas and ISIS.”
Some opposition politicians also blast the court’s ruling while at the same time criticizing the Netanyahu government for mismanaging the war and the legal battle over it.
“As I warned, the decision of the Israeli government to appear before the International Court of Justice in The Hague was a serious mistake,” says Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman.
“The court’s decision today proves that various UN institutions and also the International Criminal Court in The Hague have become aides to terrorists all over the world and their entire role is to deter democratic countries in their fight against terrorist organizations.”
“Israel is the one that was brutally attacked from Gaza and had to defend itself against a horrible terrorist organization that murdered children, raped women and still fires rockets at innocent civilians,” says Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
“There is no country in the world that would not react with force to such an attack. This verdict could and should have been prevented. A sane and professional government would have prevented [incendiary] statements from ministers and stopped criminals who burn aid trucks,” he declares.
For its part, the left-wing, majority-Arab Hadash party calls on the government to adhere to the ICJ ruling.
“The Israeli government must accept the verdict and stop the operation in Rafah immediately. But this is not enough – it must act to end the entire war and a hostage/prisoner exchange agreement that will result in a lasting and permanent ceasefire,” the Hadash party says in a statement.
The international community must “act against Israel as a criminal state, and immediately recognize an independent Palestinian state,” the party adds.