Tel Aviv — One of the 17 distinguished judges presiding over this week’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing into South African accusations that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians is Aharon Barak, a former Israeli chief justice. The ICJ's fixed panel consists of 15 judges, but each party to a dispute is allowed to appoint one additional judge.
In a deeply ironic twist of fate, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found himself asking Barak to represent Israel on the ICJ panel — due to Barak's respected standing in international legal circles — despite the deeply contentious government campaign of the past year maligning Barak in the effort to gut the judicial activism to which the jurist espouses.
Israel’s decision to challenge South Africa’s ICJ petition was surprising — it has a record of reluctance to cooperate with international probes — but far more surprising was Netanyahu’s choice, in consultation with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, of Barak, a nemesis of his political base and his hardline government allies.
Activist or revolutionary?
