Tolerant Israel must defend itself against South Africa’s genocide claims

For years, Israel has prided herself on being a progressive and open society – one that champions gay rights, civil liberties and even the idea of a peaceful and productive co-existence with the Arab population. So, the expectation might have been that, given the embracing of all those ideals, other progressive people and societies would have her back if that ever became necessary.

We are at such a moment in time, after having been accused by South Africa of being in violation of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, a charge which will soon be addressed at the Hague's International Court of Justice. Unlike so many other previous claims against Israel throughout the years, all of which were obviously part of an all-too transparent agenda to wound the Jewish homeland, Israel decided not to ignore this particular charge that hit a nerve with too many.

Israeli government spokesman, Eylon Levy, in his inimitable style, stated: “History will judge South Africa for abetting the modern heirs of the Nazis.”

Reminding everyone of Israel’s open and inclusive society, Levy lamented, “How tragic that the rainbow nation that prides itself on fighting racism will be fighting pro-bono for anti-Jewish racists.” It is, perhaps, because of Israel having gone to such great lengths to accommodate what some would define as “marginalized groups” that the accusation of genocide is all the more shameful when applied to the only state in the Middle East that would not imprison or throw gays off of rooftops. 

But, despite its largesse of tolerance, Israel is not getting the support and backing it might have felt was owed to it after doing its part to portray itself as an all-embracing, live and let live society. Shouldn’t that teach us something?

For one thing, it shows us that you can make every effort to be inclusive, accepting and free-thinking, but it will go unnoticed by those who hold us to an impossible standard while they, themselves, usually fall very short of the standards they demand from us. 

Oct. 7, if nothing else, has revealed that being Jewish does not have a protective class status. To the contrary, it is the first line of blame, incoming hatred and built-in biases by the intolerant who are only too amenable to scapegoat the people who have been the world’s villains for millennia. 

The irony is that we could have embraced Woke culture to an extreme, or even championed the revival of Marxist culture to the max, but it wouldn’t have saved the only Jewish homeland in the world from being marked as racist bigots whose chief aim is to eradicate the Palestinian people.

There is something very insidious, though, about the untenable expectation of others which prevents a country from fighting back, especially following a brutal massacre that was cruelly perpetrated upon its people in a surprise dawn attack on their Sabbath day of rest, which also happened to coincide with a religious holiday. 

For the nation of South Africa to omit those details and jump straight to the charge of Palestinian genocide is not only absurd on its face, but it is the most scandalous of lies and distortions which anyone could invent in order to have their “gotcha” moment over Israel.

Yet, as futile as their flimsy attempt is to harm our reputation, they are, nonetheless, going through with what will surely be a major embarrassment to their government and those who are giddy from the thought of the outcome of a “guilty as charged” verdict.

Undoubtedly, the gory details of Oct. 7 will not go unspoken as it is Israel’s intention to remind the world that Hamas was guilty of genocide for leading an Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, in which over 1,200 people were killed and some 250 were taken hostage. 

Over 70% of those killed were civilians, including women, children and the elderly. Many of the victims were tortured, raped, burned alive and dismembered. Hamas had a “clear mission to murder as many Israelis as possible – as sadistically as possible. It was an act of genocide perpetrated with Nazi-like cruelty and Nazi-like efficiency in the service of a Nazi-like ideology,” all cutting words of Eylon Levy, who is as good as they come when searching for Israel’s most-articulate defenders. 

Levy masterfully reverses the libelous claims, turning the tables on Hamas as the real perpetrators of genocide. Who could deny that had they not been stopped, their killing spree would have been an unrelenting bloodbath until their goal of a Jew-free region was fully accomplished?

But here’s the obvious contradiction. Genocidal charges don’t square with a government that, prior to Oct. 7, provided 20,000 work permits for Palestinians to enter Israeli territory in order to earn a living. It also doesn’t square with mixed Jewish and Arab neighborhoods or the educational, medical and social equality which allows Arabs to rise to prestigious careers and positions of power such as judges, doctors, professors and even Knesset members. 

So, the picture being portrayed by South Africa is one that is completely incongruous with the facts on the ground, but who cares? The idea is to bloody our reputation if not our people physically. 

However, getting back to the original question: What became of the support that should have come Israel’s way, as the Jewish state was being accused of crimes against humanity? 

That support is NOT forthcoming and won’t be no matter what we do, because there is one thing that Israel can’t change, and that’s her Jewish pedigree. It is the one characteristic that the rest of the world cannot forgive or overlook, so all bets are off. Liberalism, open-mindedness or inclusion will not save the day for Israel. Nor will our many achievements that have helped to improve society and even prolong life.

None of those successes will motivate others to come to our rescue, and maybe that’s a good thing because Israel was never meant to look to people or nations as her means of salvation or deliverance. That role is reserved only for the Almighty who has been filling those shoes ever since He chose Abraham to be the first Jew. Since that time, we have been blessed to have our own personal first line of defense and chief advocate against each generation of enemies who sought our end.

So why would anyone doubt that He won’t be present at the Hague, going to battle for us and, most of all, reminding us that our real safe place is only in Him?