Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 8, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 8, 2024
PM defends appointment of ex-court chief hated by his right-wing base to defend Israel at The Hague
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Supreme Court president Aharon Barak at a September 1998 Supreme Court ceremony marking 50 years of the Israeli court system. (GPO via Wikipedia)
Netanyahu defends his decision to appoint former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak to represent Israel before the International Court of Justice, in a case brought against it by South Africa that is accusing Jerusalem of perpetrating a genocide in Gaza.
“He’s a Holocaust survivor with international standing,” Netanyahu tells fellow Likud lawmakers during a faction meeting, amid uproar from far-right lawmakers over the decision to pick Barak, whom they blame for the current state of the Israeli judiciary, which they say has become too activist and requires an overhaul.
