By: David Parsons, ICEJ Vice President & Senior Spokesman

The Israeli people need to know that there are tens of millions of Christians worldwide who share their utter dismay that the International Court of Justice in The Hague last week accepted South Africa’s claims that Israel may be committing genocide in Gaza.

Like Israelis, we were shocked and repulsed by the evil atrocities committed by Hamas against innocent civilians last October 7, and the ruling by the Hague Court only compounds our shock and pain over that dark day. That the majority of justices on the Court would sit calmly at the reading of its decision on the eve of 27 January, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, only deepens our disappointment at the world’s betrayal of the Jewish state and people.

While it is true that the Court’s decision could have been worse, such as an order to cease fire or for Israeli forces to leave Gaza, the ruling they made is extremely troubling. Their decision truly inverts justice and is built on decades of the United Nations and all its forums becoming the world’s most cunning purveyors of antisemitism.

These global institutions were founded with honorable intentions, most notably to prevent a repeat of the Nazi genocide against the Jews. Yet they are now placing Israel in grave danger by giving credence to these outrageous claims of genocide. This will only embolden all the unruly and violent anti-Israel protesters in the streets worldwide, and all those engaged in lawfare or calling for boycotts and arms embargoes against Israel. And worst of all, it will only fuel the relentless efforts of those now manipulating the UN system to strip Israel of its right of self-defense and eventually eliminate the Jewish state.

The court had many valid reasons to dismiss South Africa’s petition outright. Or they could have directed Israel and South Africa to hold mediation talks over their apparent differences over the Genocide Treaty. Instead, the Court politicized the legal process to take jurisdiction over the current conflict in Gaza – and no doubt many of these justices seem quite eager to pass judgment over Israel.

To establish jurisdiction, the court relied on biased, inaccurate and dishonest statements and reports by numerous UN officials about Israel’s military actions and the conditions in Gaza. Many of these UN representatives have shown a penchant for antisemitic views in the way they always single out Israel for condemnation. And I suspect some were even making outrageous accusations against Israel in hopes of obscuring the fact that many in these UN agencies either helped or looked the other way as Hamas turned Gaza into a fortress of terrorism.

No doubt, numerous UN officials and employees, particularly in UNRWA, have been complicit in the way Hamas has brainwashed the youths of Gaza to hate Israel, wage jihad and seek martyrdom while fighting the Jews. Yet they plead innocence and still insist that they knew nothing about all the rockets and weapons hidden in UNRWA schools and clinics, and the hundreds of kilometers of terror tunnels right under their feet.

How ironic then that just one hour after the Court’s ruling was announced, news broke that the United States was suspending its funding of UNRWA due to proof provided by Israel that at least 12 UNRWA employees personally took part in the October 7 massacres. The Hebrew prophet Isaiah warned long ago: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness.” (Isaiah 5:20) Israel is justly defending its citizens from massacres, rapes, mutilations and torture, yet it is now rebuked by the world’s highest court, even while Hamas is let completely off the hook. Nonetheless, we trust the Lord God to keep and protect Israel, just as He has promised to do (Psalm 121:4; Jeremiah 31:10).

Photo credit: AP