Ex-Supreme Court president Aharon Barak to serve as Israeli judge at Hague trial

Retired Supreme Court Justice Aharon Barak, 87, will be Israel’s appointee to the 15-judge panel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that will hear South Africa’s case against Israel accusing it of genocide in Gaza, the Foreign Ministry tells The Times of Israel.

Both parties in the case get to appoint a judge, who does not have to be from the country.

Barak, a Holocaust survivor, is well-respected internationally, and will be seen as anything but an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Over the past year, the Netanyahu government has pushed a judicial overhaul plan aimed at sidelining powers assumed by Israel’s highest court which have been widely attributed to Barak’s tenure — and the retired judge has been vocally critical of the effort.

South Africa will present its case on Thursday, followed by Israel on Friday.