Israel's Netanyahu says hypocrisy and lies on display at World Court

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that hypocrisy and lies had been presented to the U.N.'s top court, adding that South Africa's accusation against Israel of genocide in Gaza could only happen in a world turned upside-down.

"We are fighting terrorists, we are fighting lies," Netanyahu said. "Today we saw an upside-down world. Israel is accused of genocide while it is fighting against genocide."

"Israel is fighting murderous terrorists who carried out crimes against humanity: They slaughtered, they raped, they burned, they dismembered, they beheaded - children, women, elderly, young men and women," he said.

"The hypocrisy of South Africa screams to the heavens," Netanyahu said. "Where was South Africa when millions of people were killed or torn from their homes in Syria and Yemen, by whom? By partners of Hamas."

Netanyahu said Israel would maintain the right to defend itself until it had achieved "total victory."

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Hugh Lawson)