Germany pulls support for Israel in ICJ ‘genocide’ case

JTA – Germany, an early defender of Israel against allegations of “genocide” in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has pulled support as it faces its own charges for aiding Israel. 

Germany will no longer intervene on Israel’s behalf, a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry told reporters on Wednesday. 

The U-turn comes after the German government rejected South Africa’s claims as “baseless” in January 2024, saying they amounted to “political instrumentalisation” of the 1948 Genocide Convention, a treaty that outlined the crime under international law in the aftermath of the Holocaust. It said it would file an intervention on Israel’s behalf. 

But when that deadline arrived this week, Germany said it could not wade in without compromising its own ICJ case, filed by Nicaragua later in 2024, alleging that Germany violated international law by supporting Israel in the Gaza war. 

“We are now ourselves part of a contentious case before the ICJ and have therefore decided not to make use of this option,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Josef Hinterseher. 

The ICJ turned down Nicaragua’s request for emergency measures against Berlin but allowed Nicaragua’s case to proceed. Among other demands, Nicaragua called for Germany to halt arms shipments to Israel and resume funding for UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), a relief organisation for Palestinians. 

Germany joined several other countries in cutting support to UNRWA after Israel alleged that hundreds of its employees were members of terrorist organisations, but later restored funding after an independent review didn’t find sufficient evidence for Israel’s claims. 

Germany’s failure to file an intervention on Israel’s behalf means Israel is without the support of one of its more stalwart European supporters. Germany is Israel’s second-largest weapons supplier after the United States and has rarely criticised Israel’s prosecution of the war. It lifted a partial arms embargo on Israel in November. 

Hinterseher didn’t directly answer a question about whether Germany no longer rejects the “genocide” accusation. “We categorically reject Nicaragua’s allegations against Germany,” he said. “All other matters will have to be clarified before the court, and we do not wish to comment further.” 

The United States defended Israel in an intervention submitted last week, saying the “genocide” claim was part of a broader campaign “to delegitimise the State of Israel and the Jewish people and to justify or encourage terrorism against them”. Paraguay became the first nation to file in support of Israel earlier this month. 

More than 18 countries have submitted interventions, which serve to provide interpretations of the Genocide Convention. Iceland and the Netherlands recently joined the majority of nations filing critical statements about Israel. 

Israel submitted a response to South Africa’s claims last week. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the submission, which remains confidential, argued the ICJ lacks jurisdiction in the case and should dismiss it.