The West's enemies are using the international system to undermine our allies
On the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) failed to throw out an absurd case brought last year by South Africa accusing Israel of “genocide”. Hamas, whose murderous pogrom on October 7 started the current conflict, hailed the decision as “important”, saying that it “contributes to isolating” the Jewish state. As the terrorist group celebrated this grotesque moral inversion, it showered Israel with rockets.
When the case was first filed, warnings were rightly issued that it represented a clear example of “lawfare” – the exploitation of legal processes and institutions in order to advance political and propaganda aims against Israel. Lawyers questioned the validity and evidential basis of the claims, given that the 1948 Genocide Convention identifies “genocide” as the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. Israel’s stated intention is only to destroy the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.
But it also speaks to a wider sense that international organisations are being used to promote the aims of the West’s enemies. Ludicrously, Iran was last year appointed to chair a UN Human Rights forum. Israel has expressed fury at the UN’s various interventions since the Hamas attack.
Moments after the ICJ ruling, in timing that many will view as staggeringly opportunistic, the UN Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced that it had fired several employees suspected of involvement in the October 7 attacks. The US moved swiftly to pause funding for UNRWA; others may deem it appropriate to follow America’s lead.
These latest developments will do little to assuage concerns that the UN – a body which receives roughly £100 million a year from the British taxpayer – has succumbed to anti-Israel bias. The World Health Organisation, meanwhile, has been accused by Jerusalem of “colluding” with Hamas, allegations which it denies.
Given there is no enforcement mechanism for the ICJ’s provisional orders, Israel will no doubt choose to ignore them. This does not mean that the court’s actions will not inflict harm, however. They will add fuel to the arguments of those who have long sought to delegitimise the Jewish state and its right to self-defence. They also risk emboldening anti-Semites in the West. Britain must show that it still stands with Israel.
