Israel Calls South Africa's Genocide Claim 'A Libel', ACLJ Attorney Says 'It's Antisemitism'

Steve Warren
01-12-2024

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Israel responded to claims of genocide by South Africa on Friday at the International Court of Justice located in The Hague, Netherlands. 

South Africa began to present its argument Thursday accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. 

In his opening statement Friday to the court, Israeli representative Tal Becker asked for a dismissal of the case, calling it "a libel."

Another of Israel's lawyers Malcolm Shaw said the "real genocide" occurred when Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 200 more as hostages, including women, children, and elderly civilians.

Becker defended Israel's reasoning for its ongoing war in Gaza by showing the court video of Hamas official Ghazi Hamad vowing to continue attacks and annihilate Israel. He also disputed the alleged death toll of more than 23,000 Palestinians as "unverified statistics provided by Hamas itself."

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One commentator noted the trial against Israel after it faced stunning atrocities on Oct. 7 is like accusing a Holocaust survivor of starting World War II. 

In a post on the social media platform X, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) wrote: "South Africa's case against Israel is disgraceful. Israel is the *victim* of an attempted genocide--not the perpetrator. Israel should ignore these shameful, morally bankrupt antisemites and continue its campaign to destroy Hamas."

And in a social media post, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted "Hamas should be on trial--not Israel."

"It's shameful that South Africa is targeting the one Jewish state for defending itself against terrorism," Pompeo wrote. "Israel should continue its righteous mission to destroy Hamas."

As CBN News has reported, Hamas has prevented the evacuation of its own civilians in order to keep them in harm's way and use them as human shields. Hamas' atrocities include hiding its fighters and weapons throughout Gaza in densely populated civilian areas and launching attacks from mosques, homes, U.N. facilities, and hospitals. 

"If there is a threat to the Palestinian civilians of Gaza, it stems primarily from the fact that they have lived under the control of a genocidal terrorist organization that has total disregard for their life and well-being," Becker, who is the legal adviser to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the court.

Jeff Ballabon is the senior counsel for International and Government Affairs at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). He also leads the ACLJ's Israel operations from its Jerusalem office. 

Ballabon appeared on Friday's edition of The 700 Club to talk more about Israel's appearance before the World Court. 

When asked about the basis for South Africa's claim of genocide, he responded, "The purported basis is the accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in violation of the 1948 genocide convention. The actual basis is very obvious. It's antisemitism, a sick obsession."

"The Jewish people have seen this before -- the use of laws to justify or legitimize genocide of the Jews. From Pharaoh to Haman, the Greeks, the Romans to the Nuremberg laws and Soviet laws of the last century, laws to destroy the Jewish people, physically, spiritually or both, are common. Being the law does not make something moral or righteous. It can be evil. This is profoundly evil," Ballabon said. 

The ACLJ senior counsel also noted the "leftist angle" to the South African allegations. 

"I think it's quite obvious and quite symbolic that South Africa was put up to doing this. Because, you know the narrative that's taking place in the West and especially in America. And the timing of this is to create tremendous pressure, I believe on the base of the Democrats and therefore Joe Biden, is to portray Israel and you've seen this narrative all along -- this is a war, a racial war. The war of white people against black people. That seems to be this trend," Ballabon said. 

"We see this all across media, academia, out in the streets as though the Palestinians are people of color and Jews are white colonialists from Europe. It's nonsense," he added. "I think that South Africa was put up to do this. I have no evidence of that. But it just seems politically too pat. You know there's been a lot of accusations of apartheid, for example. And many people in South Africa have objected to the absurdity of that as well."

"So now this is putting together a package of a narrative that claims Israel is committing genocide, which is false. That it is a racial war, which is false. And it just fits the political agenda of the Left a little bit too well to believe it's not a put-up job," Ballabon argued. 

Meanwhile, in the U.S. Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is also targeting Israel. The Vermont senator advanced a bill that would cut aid to Israel if the State Department doesn't report regularly on alleged Israeli human rights violations.  

Watch the entire interview with Jeff Ballabon from Friday's The 700 Club above.

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About The Author

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country. In addition, he also worked as a producer-director in television production and on-air promotion. A Civil War historian, he authored the book The Second Battle of Cabin Creek: Brilliant Victory. It was the companion book to the television documentary titled Last Raid at Cabin Creek currently streaming on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in Communication from the University of
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