The Rabbinical Alliance of America—Igud HaRabbonim, representing over 950 American rabbis—rejects South Africa’s accusations of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In its filed application, South Africa accused Israel of actions during the current war against Hamas in Gaza that are “genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent… to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.”
On December 28, 2023, the government of South Africa submitted an application to the ICJ to institute proceedings against the government of Israel for the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people. The filing relates to Israel’s war with Hamas, which began when the terror group brutally tortured and killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and kidnapped more than 240 others.
Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, issued the following statement in support of Israel and in clarification to the issue erroneously presented by South Africa at the ICJ accusing Israel of engaging in genocide:
“We must emphasize that each and every innocent civilian death is a tragedy. When those tragedies occur, we must hold accountable all those responsible. In the current war, Hamas is responsible for the October 7 atrocities and is also responsible for all civilian deaths brought about due to Israel being forced to engage in a defensive operation, a fight for her survival. By committing the war crimes of hiding behind civilians, Hamas takes responsibility for any civilians killed during attacks against the terror group as Israel engages in this defensive war.
“Israel’s military operation to defend itself after Hamas’ October 7 atrocities, has been falsely described as genocide against Palestinians. Such accusations of genocide pervade the absurd and obscene scholarly discourse, social media onslaught, and the vitriol of anti-Israel protestors. Few claims are more offensive, blatantly wrong, and intellectually dishonest.
“From a legal, moral, and ethical perspective the term genocide to describe Israel’s self-defense campaign is inaccurate, misleading, and dangerous.
“The United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide idefines genocide as the commission of grave harm against members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group with the intent to destroy the group as such. Thus, the legal definition of genocide means targeting members of a group because of their group identity. A key element of genocide is the intent to destroy the group.
“In Israel’s war against Hamas, the country is not intentionally attempting to destroy the Palestinian people, which is what would be required in order to violate the crime of ‘genocide.’ Neither the fact of genocide nor the required intent is present in this war. In terms of the fact of genocide, only a small percentage of Gazans have been killed during this war. The loss of any life is tragic and, in this war, the responsibility falls on Hamas for hiding behind civilians. Despite that fact, the loss of all Palestinian lives in Gaza – terrorists and civilians – tragically runs in the thousands out of a population of nearly two million in Gaza. It boggles the mind that some call this genocide rather than the tragic urban warfare that it is.
“In terms of intent, Israel’s leaders have repeatedly asserted that their campaign in Gaza is solely against the terrorist organization Hamas. Israel’s military objective in the current war in Gaza is to free the hostages taken by Hamas and destroy the terrorist organization, which carried out an unprecedented and brutal massacre against its people, including infants, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors, and disabled people. Hamas spent over a decade using international humanitarian funds money to build its terror infrastructure within and underneath civilian infrastructure. This is an international war crime that has led to the deaths of thousands of Palestinians. Additionally, the explicit goal of Hamas is to wipe Israel off the map and kill Jews all over the world, and its representatives have continuously, since October 7, reiterated that they will never stop pursuing this despicable goal. If you are looking in this war for genocidal intent, you should be looking at Hamas!
“Israel’s military attempts to minimize civilian deaths by evacuating areas in Gaza before bombing legitimate military targets that Hamas criminally placed within civilian areas. Israel delayed its initial invasion by weeks to allow civilians to evacuate and since the invasion began has created humanitarian corridors and allowed in humanitarian aid that inevitably is forcibly taken by Hamas terrorists. The fact is that Israel is acting like a country trying to prevent civilian deaths while fighting a legitimate urban war against a terrorist organization. It is not acting like a country with genocidal intent.
“The accusation of genocide against Israel contradicts the legal definition of genocide. South Africa irresponsibly failed to do proper research prior to accusing Israel of genocide and as a matter of course should discontinue its erroneous, one-sided case against Israel. Israel is a democratic, free state and a beacon of hope in the Middle East. Israel is an ally to all the free people of the world. South Africa’s baseless charges against Israel give a free pass to the Hamas terrorists who deliberately engineered the immense harm that innocent Palestinians are experiencing today.
“The world is watching. If Hamas succeeds in its terror attack on Israel, the free world risks more terrorist organizations following suit with similar attacks around the world. Israel is the canary in the coal mine. We must support Israel in order to support freedom from terror in the United States and around the world.”