TEL AVIV, Israel (news agencies) — Fighting “human animals.” Making Gaza a “slaughterhouse.” “Erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth.”
Such inflammatory rhetoric is a key component of South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the U.N. world court, a charge Israel denies. South Africa says the language — in comments by Israeli leaders, soldiers and entertainers about Palestinians in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack sparked war — is proof of Israel’s intent to commit genocide.
Israeli leaders have downplayed the comments, and some in Israel say they’re a result of the trauma from Hamas’ attack.
Rights groups and activists say they’re an inevitable byproduct of Israel’s decades-old, open-ended rule over the Palestinians and that they’ve intensified during the war. They say such language has been left unchecked, inciting violence and dehumanizing Palestinians.
“Words lead to deeds,” said Michael Sfard, a prominent Israeli lawyer. “Words that normalize or legitimize serious crimes against civilians create the social, political and moral basis for other people to do things like that.”
The genocide case against Israel opened last week at the International Court of Justice at The Hague. South Africa is looking to prove that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that Israel has specific intent to commit genocide. It is using the litany of harsh statements as part of the evidence in its case.
With the ground offensive getting underway in late October, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited the Bible in a televised address: “You must remember what Amalek has done to you.” Amalekites were persecutors of the biblical Israelites, and a biblical commandment says they must be destroyed. South Africa argued that the remarks showed Israel’s intent to commit genocide against Palestinians. Netanyahu denied that this week and said he was referring to Amalek as a way to describe Hamas and its attack.
Two days after the Hamas attack, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was “fighting human animals,” in announcing a complete siege on Gaza.
Deputy Knesset speaker Nissim Vaturi from the ruling Likud party wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Israelis had one common goal, “erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth.” Israeli Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, from the far-right Jewish Power party, suggested that Israel drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza and said there were “no uninvolved civilians” in the territory.
Israeli soldiers caught on video made similar remarks as they sang and danced in the early days of Israel’s ground offensive.
On Oct. 7, a journalist wrote on X that Gaza should become “a slaughterhouse” if the roughly 250 people taken hostage by Hamas were not returned.
Military officials and two Israeli pop singers are also cited by South Africa for making inflammatory comments.
“The language of systemic dehumanization is evident here,” lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said for South Africa in remarks before the court. “Genocidal utterances are therefore not out in the fringes. They are embodied in state policy.”
South Africa is asking for a series of legally binding rulings declaring that Israel is breaching “its obligations under the Genocide Convention” — a decision that could take years — and for a binding interim order that Israel cease hostilities, a ruling on which is expected in the coming weeks.
Defending Israel in court, lawyer Malcolm Shaw said the remarks were made mostly by officials with little role in determining Israeli policy, calling them “random quotes” that were misleading and had been in some cases repudiated by Netanyahu.
But Roy Schondorf, a former Israeli deputy attorney general, said in an interview that the statements still carried risk, even out of context: “It would have been better if some of these remarks had not been said.”
Israel argued that its justice system would take action against unacceptable speech. But critics say statements against Palestinians have gone unpunished or undenounced. Lawyer Sfard appealed to the country’s attorney general earlier this month on behalf of a group of prominent Israeli figures, demanding to know why the rhetoric hasn’t been reined in.
In a statement two days before the case launched at the world court, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said calling for intentional harm to civilians could amount to a criminal offense and that Israeli authorities were examining several such cases, without elaborating. The comments appeared to be aimed at heading off the South African accusations.
Overall, Israel vehemently denies the charges at the world court. Israel says it’s fighting a war of self-defense against Hamas after it killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Israeli officials say the country adheres to international law and does its utmost to protect civilians, blaming the high death toll on Hamas for embedding in civilian areas. More than 24,000 people have been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
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