The Guardian/Sarah Basford Canales- 5/01
Albanese yet to reveal government’s stance on South Africa’s case in international court of justice but Coalition says Australia must support Israel’s right to defend itself.
The opposition has urged the Albanese government to rule out any support for what it says is South Africa’s “unbalanced” case against Israel at the UN’s international court of justice (ICJ).
The “unprecedented” case brought by South Africa at the beginning of the year will be heard in The Hague on 11 and 12 January with the potential for a provisional ruling within weeks. It accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has called the allegations “a despicable and contemptuous exploitation” of the ICJ and urged the court to reject it.
Stakes high as South Africa brings claim of genocidal intent against Israel
Australia’s position has yet to be revealed but some rank-and-file Labor members are urging the party’s senior politicians to support South Africa’s case, claiming the Albanese government’s “silence” on the more than 22,000 deaths in Gaza is “inconsistent with our national values”.
The prime minister’s office was contacted for a response but passed the request on to foreign affairs minister Penny Wong’s office, which declined to comment.
The opposition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, said the Albanese government should rule out any support for South Africa’s claim that Israel has genocidal intent, describing the country’s ICJ application as “unbalanced”.
So far only Malaysia has offered its support for South Africa’s case, which Malaysia’s foreign ministry described as a “timely and tangible step towards legal accountability for Israel’s atrocities”.
No country could live with the threat posed by Hamas to innocent civilians
Meanwhile, the US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby described the ICJ claim as “meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever”.
Birmingham said Australia needed to support Israel’s campaign to remove Palestinian militant group Hamas for there to be any chance of peace between Israel and Palestine.
“Australia should maintain a strong commitment in support of Israel’s inherent right to self-defence after Hamas’s horrific targeting of civilians, while continuing to expect Israel to act with regard to international law,” he said.
“No country could live with the threat posed by Hamas to innocent civilians, which must be removed for both Israelis and Palestinians to have any hope of living peacefully alongside one another.”
The case’s hearings and provisional ruling are likely to coincide with a planned visit by Wong to Israel later this month.
Grassroots Labor members urge Australia to back South Africa’s case against Israel at UN court
If a provisional ruling is made in favour of South Africa’s claims, Australia would be faced with “either supporting the international court and the rules-based international order, or Israel’s ongoing military operations”, said Australian National University professor of international law, Donald Rothwell.
“The significance of a case alleging that Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza has immense cultural, diplomatic, historical, and political significance,” Rothwell said, describing it as “unprecedented”.
“An ICJ ruling that Israel is committing genocide would require a radical modification of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Israel would, however, retain its right of self-defence against Hamas.”
South Africa’s application accuses Israel’s acts and omissions since the conflict began as being “genocidal in character”, citing public comments made by top Israeli officials, including the Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant’s reference to Palestinians in Gaza as “human animals”.
The country’s application said provisional measures needed to be taken by the ICJ “to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention, which continue to be violated with impunity”.
Israel’s foreign ministry has said the claim lacks a “factual and a legal basis”.
The international criminal court (ICC), which prosecutes individuals, (while the ICJ focuses on arbitration between countries), is already separately investigating possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Hamas and Israel.