The ICJ ruling is a repudiation of Israel and its western backers | Kenneth Roth

Will Israel's allies urge Israel to comply with the court's ruling? It would do enormous damage to the rules-based order' if they make an exception for Israel

The international court of justice's (ICJ) ruling in South Africa's genocide case was a powerful repudiation of Israel's denialism. By an overwhelming majority, the court found a plausible" case that provisional measures were needed to avoid irreparable prejudice" from further Israeli acts in Gaza that could jeopardize Palestinian rights under the genocide convention.

The public posture of various Israeli officials was in essence, how dare anyone accuse us of genocide. After all, they pointed out, Israel was founded after the Holocaust to protect the Jewish people from genocide, Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, and many of Hamas's statements seem genocidal in intent.

Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch (1993-2022), is a visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs