APA-Pretoria (South Africa) A bipartisan group of 210 members of the US Congress on Tuesday night sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemning South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice as “grossly unfounded and defamatory.”
The group, led by Republican Chris Smith and Democrat Kathy Manning, argued that Israel “has the right to defend itself against Hamas terror” and called on Blinken to “offer Israel all appropriate support in opposing the South African application”.
“We write to you to express our disgust at this filing, which perpetrates false and dangerous allegations against the Jewish state,” the letter read.
The lawmakers, who make up less than half the 535-member US Congress, accused South Africa of attempting to “demonize” and “delegitimize” Israel and called on the US State Department to continue to push back against the case.
They also urged US allies to back Israel in the ICJ case.
South Africa has brought Israel before the ICJ with accusations of genocide amid allegations that the Jewish state has killed over 25,000 Palestinian civilians since its war against Hamas militants began in early October 2023.
Both sides presented their arguments before the ICJ earlier this month and the court is now deliberating the case.
The court will rule on nine provisional measures seeking the suspension of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, but a timeline for the court’s decision has not been set.
JN/APA