South Africa’s (SA) application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is simple but devastating. Israel is a state founded on saying “never again” to the modern Nazi genocide against the Jews. SA alleges violations of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Convention) because Israel continually threatens, adopts, and condones genocidal acts “against the Palestinian people, a distinct national, racial and ethnical group”. SA “unequivocally condemns all violations of international law by all parties, including the direct targeting of Israeli civilians and other nationals and hostage-taking by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups”, but it maintains that no “armed attack on a state’s territory” even “serious… “attack involving atrocity crimes” can, provide any possible justification for breaches of the Convention whether in “law or morality”. Rather, the Convention is attracted because “acts and omissions by Israel” manifest genocidal intent as these “are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group in the Gaza Strip… including intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population… and buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science, historic monuments, hospitals”.

Israel opens its statement by saying: “Seared in our collective memory is the systematic murder of six million Jews as part of a pre-meditated and heinous program for their total annihilation”. It is not surprising that it was “among the first States to ratify the Convention, without reservation, and to incorporate its provisions in its domestic legislation”. For Israel the promise of “Never Again” for all peoples signifies the “highest moral obligation”.