Israel's "actions" to prevent the incitement of genocide in Gaza

The ICJ has ruled that Israel must prevent public statements that incite genocide. Although the court does not have the power to enforce the ruling, Israel has agreed to submit a report detailing the actions it has taken to investigate and prosecute cases of incitement. Although this report has been submitted, many senior Israeli officials and soldiers continue to use discriminatory language against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

"Burn Gaza now, nothing more!" When the deputy speaker of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, posted this comment on X in November, the platform blocked him and asked him to delete it.

Nissim Vaturi did as he was asked and his account was reactivated, but he did not apologize.

His comment is one of many controversial comments made by some senior Israeli officials as the country's armed forces continue airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza in response to Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on October 7.

On the day of the attacks, he had tweeted: "Now we have a common goal - to wipe the Gaza Strip off the face of the earth."

This post, which is still on X, is cited in the case of South Africa v. Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in which South Africa alleges that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza. Israel has called the case "completely baseless" and based on "one-sided and false claims".

As part of the judgment in January, the ICJ ruled that Israel must prevent public statements that incite genocide. Although the court does not have the power to enforce the ruling, Israel has agreed to submit a report detailing the actions it has taken to investigate and prosecute cases of incitement. The court has confirmed that it received the report in February, but the details have not been made public. 

Some legal experts believe Israel is not doing enough to investigate potential cases.

"Israelis who incite genocide or use genocidal rhetoric are immune from persecution," says Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard.

Proving incitement to genocide, which is a crime under international and Israeli law, is difficult. Genocide is defined as an act intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. But the distinction between inciting genocide and inciting violence or racism can be complex. 

A pro-Palestinian human rights organization has created a network of experts and researchers from around the world who monitor the conflict, Palestine Law, has looked at cases where Israeli officials and other public figures are believed to have incited genocide. The list includes several statements from Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Ben-Gvir has defended a policy that encourages Palestinians to leave Gaza, saying Israelis should settle there.

He leads the ultra-nationalist party, which is widely criticized for supporting racially discriminatory anti-Arab policies. He has previous convictions by an Israeli court – dating back to before he came into government – ​​for inciting racism and supporting terrorism.

Two days after the ICJ ruling in January, he endorsed a policy that encourages Palestinians to leave Gaza and be replaced by Israeli settlers. He said that in order to avoid a repeat of the Hamas attack on Israel "we must return home and control the territory (Gaza)... encouraging migration and giving the death penalty to terrorists", proposing that emigration should it is done voluntarily.

"We consider the call for the displacement of the population of Gaza as part of the ethnic cleansing that is happening in Gaza," says the founder of "Law for Palestine", Ihsan Adel. He believes these calls should be considered incitement to genocide and that genocide is taking place - a charge Israel denies.
But not everyone agrees with this assessment. "Of course I will not defend such a statement, but it does not reach the level of genocide", says Anne Herzberg, legal advisor of the NGO "Monitor", which reports from a pro-Israel perspective.

Neither Ben-Gvir nor Vaturi have commented on the matter.

The link between what politicians say and what Israeli soldiers say has been a key part of South Africa's case at the ICJ.

In a YouTube video from late 2023, a group of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers can be heard chanting, "Occupy, expel and settle." And soldiers have made other videos since the ICJ ruling in January mocking and celebrating the destruction of Gaza.

The IDF has said it has examined reports of online videos and that if criminal wrongdoing is suspected, the military police will investigate and "in some of the cases examined, it has been concluded that the expressions and behavior of the soldiers in the footage is unacceptable." and that it will be treated properly."

Israeli religious leaders are in the spotlight. Rabbi Eliyahu Mali has attracted attention after giving a speech in March at a conference for the Zionist yeshiva of Israel - the strongly faith-based Jewish religious school in the State of Israel. Mali is the head of a yeshiva that is part of a network that receives funding from Israel's Ministry of Defense. Its students mix Torah religious studies with military service.

He described the content of the speech as "treatment of the civilian population in Gaza during the war".
A picture of her has been shared online. After quoting a 12th-century Jewish scholar on religious wars, Mali said: "And the basic rules we have when we fight a mitzvah war, in this case in Gaza, according to the scriptures, 'You shall not leave a soul alive. ', the meaning is very clear – if you don't kill them, they will kill you".

In Judaism, a war mitzvah involves the defense of Jewish life and sovereignty and is considered obligatory.

The justification in a letter from Mali said that his words were "erroneously misinterpreted by fragments taken out of context".

According to the letter, he has shown how this was in ancient times, but that he has "made it clear that anyone who follows biblical commands today can cause great harm to the army and the nation" and that under national law "it is it is forbidden to hurt the civilian population from children to the elderly".

At several times during his speech, he reminded the audience of these points, including the conclusions, saying at the beginning: "You must follow the orders of the army."

However, during the conversation, he specifically mentioned the people of Gaza, saying: "I think there is a difference between the civilian population of other countries and that of Gaza," adding a baseless claim that "95 to 98 percent are interested in our death, this is the majority, this is surprising".
When a member of the audience asked him about the babies, he said: "The same... according to the order: 'You must not leave a soul alive'... Today it is a baby, tomorrow a boy, tomorrow a warrior".

In the speech, the rabbi also told about what he told the boy, who went to fight after the October 7 attacks. He said that the boy "must kill anything that moves". He explained that his son's commander told him the same thing and that he instructed his son to "follow the commander's orders".

Later, he repeated that he did not expect the soldiers to follow "Torah". He said that the laws of the state are in contradiction with those of the "Torah", the law of the state must be followed and that "the laws of the state only want to kill terrorists and not the civilian population".

Eitay Mack, a lawyer from the Israeli group Tag Meir, which campaigns against racism and discrimination, says he has asked the police to investigate the rabbi on suspicion of inciting genocide, violence and terrorism.

He says he is still waiting to hear whether the request for an investigation will be accepted.

Another claim made by South Africa at the ICJ hearing was about "the genocidal messages that constantly appear - without censorship and sanction - in the Israeli media".

In February, on the right-wing Channel 14, journalist Yaki Adamker said: "As far as I'm concerned, the Palestinians of Gaza can starve. Why do I care about them?"

In April, an Israeli journalist on the country's most watched channel, Channel 12, Yehuda Schlesinger, took a similar stance, saying: “There are no innocents in the Gaza Strip, there are none. They voted for Hamas, they love Hamas."

For Anne Herzberg, this may show a "disturbing lack of empathy for the people in Gaza and what they are going through", but "doesn't call for genocide".

When it comes to whether the authorities should more tightly control what is broadcast, Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard warns that "the regulators, which is the state, must ensure that public broadcasting is not exploited" by people making provocative comments.

While the ICJ's decision to prevent incitement to genocide was addressed to Israel, Hamas was also accused of making statements with "incitement to genocide".

"The annihilating language of Hamas is regularly repeated by its leaders," says Tal Becker, a legal adviser at Israel's Foreign Ministry.

In 2021, Yahya Sinwar, who has just become the leader of Hamas, said: "We support the elimination of Israel through jihad and armed struggle, this is our doctrine."

And, more recently, some Hamas officials have claimed that they want to repeat the October 7 attack, during which about 1200 people were killed and 251 more were taken hostage.

In November, a member of the Hamas political office, Ghazi Hamad, said: "We must teach Israel a lesson and we will do it again and again."

During this time, the leader of Hamas abroad, Khaled Mashaal, said that October 7 "opened a new path towards the elimination of Israel".

Hamas has not commented on this matter.

Many want to see the group - which is designated a terrorist organization by the US, UK, EU and other countries - held accountable.

"It's pretty clear that they have genocidal intentions, we hear little about the Hamas investigation and I think that's the missing part of this conflict," says Anne Herzberg.

The UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, agrees that Hamas leaders must be held accountable. But she says: "When assessing genocide, one looks at the words spoken by the leaders, but also the capacity to commit genocide, which Hamas does not seem to have."

Unlike Israel, Hamas cannot be sent to the ICJ because it is not a state. However, another body, the International Criminal Court (ICC), can hold individuals accountable. In May, prosecutors applied for arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh for crimes against humanity and war crimes. He also asked the same for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Both Hamas and Israel have reacted angrily.

As for what Israeli authorities are doing to prevent and prosecute those suspected of inciting violence, the country's attorney general and state prosecutor have acknowledged that any statement calling for intentional harm to civilians "could constitute criminal offense, including the offense of incitement". Shortly before the hearing of the ICJ in January, they said that several cases were being considered.

However, Haaretzi recently reported that the state prosecutor recommended that no criminal investigations be opened against high-ranking public figures, including ministers and members of the Knesset, who "have called to harm civilians in the Gaza Strip." ". The final decision rests with the attorney general.

And as the ICJ continues to work toward a final decision in the case, people continue to die — since October, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in Gaza, according to its Hamas-run Ministry of Health.