JERUSALEM – South Africa's use of the U.N. Supreme Court to accuse Israel of genocide, the Jewish state's U.N. ambassador said Friday, said the legal proceeding supported Hamas, the “modern-day Nazis.” There was an angry reaction from
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan has released his response to the hearing at the United Nations International Court of Justice in the Netherlands, which will rule on Israel's military operation against the jihadist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The case in The Hague shows how the United Nations and its agencies have become a weapon of terrorist organizations,” Erdan said. “The use of the Genocide Convention against the Jewish state and in the service of modern-day Nazis Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh proves that there is no moral baseness that the United Nations is not guilty of. ing.”
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Gilad Erdan attends a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at United Nations Headquarters in New York, April 25, 2023. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
Shinwar and Haniya are two of the Palestinian leaders of Hamas who are accused of mobilizing thousands of Hamas terrorists to invade Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans. It is. Hamas kidnapped more than 240 people.
“The United Nations should stand trial in The Hague for turning a blind eye and thereby becoming an accomplice to the drilling of terrorist tunnels in Gaza, the production of missiles and rockets, and the use of international aid. In education of hatred and murder,” Erdan said.
“If there was any semblance of reason and morality left in the United Nations, the despicable prosecution of South Africa's terrorist sponsors would be consigned to the dustbin of history within days.”
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South Africa, which has shown great sympathy and support for Hamas over the years, filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice. On Friday, Israel was emboldened by the German government's statement against South Africa.
Palestinian Hamas terrorists are seen during a military show in the Bani Suheira neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, July 20, 2017. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
South Africa claimed that Israel's military operations in Gaza amounted to genocide. The convention defines genocide as acts such as murder “committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.”
On Friday, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Israel was “defending itself” following an “inhumane” attack by Hamas.
A flag next to the United Nations headquarters and a photo of an Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. (Getty Images/Hamas Telegram)
“The German government categorically and unequivocally rejects the charges of genocide brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice. These charges have virtually no basis,” Hebestreit said.
“Given Germany's history and the crimes against humanity of the Shoah, the German government specifically [U.N.] Genocide Convention. ”
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The word Shoah is used by Israel to describe Germany's destruction of European Jewry during World War II, resulting in the genocide of 6 million Jews. The United Nations Genocide Convention was signed in 1948 after the Holocaust.
Hebestright emphasized that the treaty is a “central instrument” under international law to prevent another Holocaust.
He said he was “firmly opposed to the political instrumentalization” of the treaty.
Hearings in South Africa's genocide case against Israel will begin on January 11, 2024 at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) tasked South Africa with Wednesday.
“And now South Africa has such a case,” Fetterman said. “Maybe South Africa should shut up about this when they're talking about criticizing the actions of other countries. Shut up.”
In December, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) invited three Hamas leaders to South Africa. A senior representative from Iran-based Hamas was also present.
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The United States has classified Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization. The Islamic Republic of Iran, a sponsor of Hamas, has been designated by the US State Department as the world's worst state sponsor of international terrorism.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
