Senior Jewish American jurist Prof. Alan Dershowitz, whose name came up as a potential candidate for representing Israel as a judge in the International Court of Justice at The Hague regarding South Africa's petition accusing Israel of "genocide" in Gaza, is not moved by the prosecution's arguments and made it clear that Israel should not act on any decision made in the tribunal.
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"Israel should ignore whatever is said by the International Court of Justice," Dershowitz said Wednesday in an interview with Ynet. "It is not a real court. It's a court whose judges are picked by their countries, it reflects foreign policy, not rule of law, not judiciary. I think that Israel made a mistake in submitting to the jurisdiction of the court, and it would make a mistake in complying with any ruling of the court. This is one of the most absurd abuses of the judicial process in modern history.
"Israel did not commit genocide, the number of civilians who were killed is proportional to the number of combatants, it is lower than any war in modern history. Israel is trying its best to preserve civilian life, whereas Hamas is doing its best to take civilian lives.
"I personally would ignore any decision that comes down. I'll probably just read it out of curiosity, but it will have no impact on my thinking; it's utterly irrelevant."
What do you think of the Israeli defense team?
"I think the Israeli lawyers have done a good job within the constraints of the International Court of Justice, but it's like arguing in front of a wall - their arguments will have no impact on the decision whatsoever. This is politics, it has nothing to do with the law. And I think that by arguing the law they legitimate an illegitimate court."
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Israel's defense team at the International Court of Justice
(Photo: EPA/REMKO DE WAAL)
I read that you said that Israel has a good chance of winning the case. After hearing both sides, do you think we have a good chance of winning or has the decision already been made?
"I don't think the arguments will have much of an impact, many of the judges are told how to vote by their government, and when the government tells you how to vote, you don't have to listen, you pretend to listen to the arguments, but I don't think the arguments will have much of an impact, maybe they will have an impact on one or two countries and that can have an impact on the result. But no one should take the results of this court seriously. It is not a real court."
Dershowitz also praised Israel's decision to send former Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak as a judge on its behalf despite his expressed opposition to the government's judicial reform legislation, which was buried with the start of the war.
"There could be no better person in the world than Aharon Barak," he said. "He is the most respected Israeli judge probably in the history of Israel, so he is the perfect person to send. Will he have an impact on the decision? That remains to be seen, but it was a wise decision and a courageous decision by Prime Minister Netanyahu to send somebody who he disagrees with on judicial reform to serve as a judge on the court, it was a brilliant decision."
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South Africa brought the case against Israel to the International Court of Justice
(Photo: Reuters/ Thilo Schmuelgen)
You expressed willingness to represent Israel, why didn't that happen?
"I would have challenged the jurisdiction of the court. I would not have gone along with the arguments on the merits because I don't think it would have had an impact, so I may have not been the right person to send if they wanted to take the court seriously. I do not take this court seriously and I do not respect it, so I would be the wrong person to send. If they wanted to challenge the jurisdiction of the court, then perhaps I would have been the right person to send."
A bit of Israeli politics. There are voices pushing for elections now. Do you think elections during war is a good idea?
"I generally don't think that elections right in the midst of war is a good idea, but Israel is a democracy and it has to make its own decisions, and it has to make a decision not only about who to elect, but also when to have elections. So whichever way Israel decides that question, I would support it as a supporter of democracy."