Netanyahu slams ‘brazen gall’ of World Court after allegations of genocide in Gaza: ‘The world is upside down’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed allegations of genocide in Gaza as nothing more than “hypocrisy” on Thursday as South Africa brought a case against the Jewish State at the World Court.
Netanyahu is the latest Israeli official to criticize the International Court of Justice hearing being held in Hauge, South Africa, where members of the World Court are hearing the case against the Jewish State’s war in Gaza and the civilian cost.
The Israeli leader accused South Africa of “brazen gall” for representing the “monsters” of Hamas by bringing the allegations to court.
“A terrorist organization carried out the worst crime against the Jewish People since the Holocaust, and now someone comes to defend it in the name of the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “What brazen gall. The world is upside down.”
Netanyahu added: “South Africa’s hypocrisy screams to the high Heavens. Where was South Africa when millions of people were being murdered and uprooted from their homes in Syria and Yemen, by whom? By Hamas’s partners.
“We will continue to refute the lies. We will continue to uphold our just right to defend ourselves and to ensure our future – until total victory,” the prime minister concluded.
Netanyahu has long defended the war as a necessary security measure for Israel after it endured the Oct 7. terrorist attack that saw more than 1,200 people killed and more than 240 others kidnapped.
Israel has also accused Hamas of using mass rape as a weapon of war during the brutal terrorist attack, allegations that are being investigated separately on the world stage.
The prime minister’s criticism was joined by opposition leader Yair Lapid, who said the trial against Israel has put the “integrity of the international community” at stake.
“If a country that protects itself from a brutal murderous terrorist attack can find itself in court for genocide, then the genocide convention has become a reward for terrorism and antisemitism,” Lapid said. “Instead of the murderers being put on trial, the world is judging the murdered.”
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lior Haiat claimed South Africa was effectively “functioning as the legal arm of Hamas.”
Israeli officials from across the political spectrum have come together to condemn the allegations being presented to the World Court, which claim the Jewish State is actively engaging in genocide to clear Gaza of its Palestinian residents.
The allegations come as the death toll in Gaza surpassed 23,000 on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, with nearly the entire 2.3 million Palestinians living in the territory displaced from their homes.
Several far-right Israeli representatives have gone on to claim that it’s the Jewish State’s mission to clear Gaza for its own residents to settle, a position Netanyahu has rejected.
South Africa’s case against Israel has been backed by the 56 member nations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as other independent nations like Bolivia and Venezuela.
Israel has seen its strongest support from the US, which slammed the allegations of genocide as “unfounded.” Germany and Austria have also chosen to dismiss the allegations as “false.”
Despite the criticisms from Jewish leaders, Gil Dickmann — whose cousin Carmel Gat, 39, was taken hostage by Hamas — said the World Court case may play in Israel’s favor.
Dickmann said the trial was the ideal opportunity for Israel to present to the world what it has endured at the hands of Hams since the “nightmare” of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
“The whole world should understand that this is a crime against humanity that Hamas has committed,” Dickmann told NBC News. “In a way, it’s great to see that the Israeli government chooses this way of showing the world the war and the reality that we’re facing.”
