The Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry (ECAJ), the peak body rep­res­ent­ing the Jewish community nation­ally, has warned that although the ICJ has made it clear that it has not made any finding about whether Israel has committed genocide, or even whether the court has jur­is­dic­tion to hear the case,  the ICJ’s decision to indicate pro­vi­sion­al measures to be taken by Israel will set a precedent that will incentiv­ise future acts of inter­na­tion­al terrorism, which is a concern for all peace and freedom-loving nations, not only for Israel.

“Israel’s opponents failed in their primary aim of obtaining an order for an immediate ceasefire, however if Israel is to comply with the ICJ’s decision, it may only be permitted to fight Hamas with one hand tied behind its back”, said ECAJ President Daniel Aghion KC.”

“This means that nations which are attacked by ter­ror­ists in the future may no longer be able to defend them­selves effect­ively if the ter­ror­ists shield them­selves behind civilians, as Hamas has done.  The decision thus sets a precedent that will incentiv­ise future acts of inter­na­tion­al terrorism, using similar tactics.”

“On 7 October 2023, Hamas ter­ror­ists carried out a pre-planned attack against Israel during which it tortured, raped, mutilated and butchered 1200 people, mostly civilians, and took 240 hostages.  It videoed and openly cel­eb­rated its atro­cit­ies, and threatened to repeat its crimes again and again,“

“Yet it is Israel, the party that is now defending itself against these cruel and sadistic murderers, that is now under scrutiny for alleged “genocide”, while the per­pet­rat­ors, Hamas, are treated with impunity.  This is not justice.  This is a travesty that turns justice on its head.”

“The court’s decision is a concern for all peace and freedom-loving nations, not only for Israel.”

We are grateful to Israel’s allies who have stood up to South Africa’s false accus­a­tions, and clearly rejected the genocide claim against Israel. We hope that those gov­ern­ments and those of other like-minded states will continue to stand with Israel in defending itself against terrorism.”

“A campaign such as the defeat of ISIS in Mosul by an inter­na­tion­al coalition in 2016 – 2017, which caused a higher per­cent­age of civilian cas­u­al­ties than have occurred in Gaza, may no longer be legally per­miss­ible.”

“Although the ICJ has also called for the immediate release of all hostages and for ‘all parties’, which includes Hamas, to comply with inter­na­tion­al human­it­ari­an law,   Hamas has no respect what­so­ever for the ICJ or inter­na­tion­al law. Yet it is only Israel, not Hamas, which will come under any real pressure to comply with the ICJ’s decision.  This is yet another indic­a­tion of how unjust it is.”