Jan 26, 2024

Greater Miami Jewish Federation, its JCRC and RAGM React to ICJ Ruling

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation, its Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami (RAGM) are gratified that the United Nations’ International Court of Justice (ICJ) provisional ruling this morning (Jan. 26) did not call for an immediate ceasefire, recognizing Israel’s right to self-defense. We applaud the court’s demand that the hostages be released immediately and unconditionally.

However, as the Jewish Federations of North America wrote to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, "There is simply no basis for the claim that Israel is engaging or has the intention to engage in genocide in Gaza or elsewhere. Israel has repeatedly stated its conflict is with Hamas terrorists – who are responsible for the October 7th massacre – not the millions of Palestinian civilians living in Gaza,"

We once again reject the baseless claims of genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel and are deeply disappointed by the plaintiff’s (South Africa) politically motivated, one-sided attempt to punish Israel for defending itself against Hamas, a terrorist organization committed to genocide of the Jewish people. South Africa is one of the few countries in the world that maintains open, diplomatic ties with Hamas. South Africa’s actions, along with the ICJ’s failure to dismiss this case in its entirety, only further the UN’s deep anti-Israel bias. Specifically, they ignore the significant steps Hamas has undertaken to cause destruction and devastation to its own civilians by routinely stealing humanitarian aid for military purposes and by purposely embedding its military inside and underneath heavily populated civilian areas such as mosques, schools and hospitals. Israel has done everything in its power to minimize civilian deaths and provide humanitarian aid.

We state emphatically that we, the Jewish people, have the right to defend ourselves. And Israel, as the only sovereign state of the Jewish people and the only democratic outpost in the Middle East, has both the right to exist and the obligation to defend itself against those who have explicitly called for its destruction. As such, it deserves our unambiguous and steadfast support.