At UN court, Germany says Israel’s security ‘core’ of Berlin’s foreign policy
German representative dismisses as ‘grossly distorted’ Nicaragua’s demand that country halt supply of military equipment to Israel due to war against Hamas in Gaza
Israel’s security is at the “core” of German foreign policy, the UN’s highest court heard on Tuesday, where Berlin is defending itself against a claim that it is furnishing Israel with weapons being used in Gaza.
“Our history is the reason why Israel’s security has been at the core of Germany foreign policy,” Germany’s representative told the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
“Where Germany has provided support to Israel, including in a form of export of arms and other military equipment, the quality and purposes of these supplies have been grossly distorted by Nicaragua,” Tania von Uslar-Gleichen said.
Nicaragua has brought Germany before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to demand that judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.
Lawyers for Nicaragua argued that Germany is in breach of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, set up in the wake of the Holocaust, by furnishing Israel with weapons.
On Monday, Nicaragua’s lawyers called Berlin “pathetic” for supplying Israel with weapons and at the same time giving humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
Nicaragua asked the ICJ to decree “provisional measures,” the emergency orders that can be imposed while the court considers the broader case.
Germany had already said after Monday’s hearing that it “completely rejected” Nicaragua’s accusations.
The ICJ was set up to rule in disputes between nations and has become a key player in the war between Israel and Hamas.
In a separate case, South Africa has accused Israel of perpetrating genocide in the Gaza Strip, charges Israel has angrily denied.
In that case, the court ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent genocidal acts and recently toughened its stance, ordering additional measures obliging Israel to step up access to humanitarian aid.
The court’s rulings are binding but it lacks an enforcement mechanism. For example, it has ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine, to no avail.
The Gaza war began when Palestinian terror group Hamas led an devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people. The thousands of attackers who burst through the boundary with the Gaza Strip also abducted 253 people who were taken as hostages into the Palestinian enclave.
Israel responded with a military offensive to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza, destroy the terror group and free the hostages, of whom 129 remain in captivity.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 33,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so far, a figure that cannot be independently verified and includes some 13,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
