South Africa made a statement on Tuesday, declaring that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is “a more extreme form of apartheid,” drawing on its own history of racial discrimination to join the international pressure on Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
The court, the highest judicial body of the United Nations, is currently holding six days of discussions on Israel’s actions in Palestinian territories, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The U.N. General Assembly had requested the court to assess the legality of Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories over a year ago, before the conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
During the proceedings, which began on Monday, over 50 countries were set to present arguments to the 15-judge panel over the course of the week, marking an unprecedented level of participation at the court. The court is expected to provide a nonbinding advisory opinion. Israel has opted out of participating in the oral arguments, citing bias in the questions presented to the court.
South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusi Madonsela, spoke to the judges on Tuesday morning, following his country’s previous assertion at the court that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Despite Israel’s denial of the accusations, the court had ordered Israel to take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza, though a ruling on whether genocide is happening has not been made yet.
Mr. Madonsela highlighted South Africa’s painful history of apartheid and discrimination, drawing parallels to Israel’s control of Palestinian territories taken in 1967. He pointed out the differing legal systems, land regulations, infrastructure, and housing rights for Palestinians, arguing that Israel has established a system that favors Jewish settlers while depriving Palestinians of their rights.
Israel has consistently refuted claims of operating under apartheid, dismissing such allegations as baseless.
Mr. Madonsela characterized the situation in Israel as “an even more extreme form of apartheid than what was enforced against Black individuals in South Africa.” He emphasized South Africa’s duty to denounce apartheid practices wherever they arise and urged Israel to dismantle the separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank, which the court had ordered to be removed in 2004 but remains in place.
The United States is scheduled to present arguments on Wednesday.
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