Searching for information on the International Court of Justice hearings yielded an Israel-sponsored ad calling the ongoing genocide hearing against it “meaningless.”


Israel is defending itself against allegations that its siege of Gaza is a genocide with Google search ads, in what appears to be a world first.

A Google search for the ongoing hearing against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) yielded an ad calling South Africa’s genocide case against it “meaningless” and linking to an Israeli government website for some users on Thursday. Motherboard viewed the ad, which appears above news coverage of the hearing being held in the Hague in the Netherlands. Google told Motherboard it reviewed the ad against its policies and did not take any action.

The ad was first noted on X when a user posted a screenshot of their Google search for “icj” which yielded a sponsored ad titled “Israel response to Hague ICJ” above the Google information panel for the ICJ. The ad includes subheadings of “October 7th: The Invasion” and “The North Border,” as well as survivor testimonies and resources.

Motherboard was not able to replicate the search using only the term “ICJ,” but was able to find the ad when searching “ICJ Israel.” The ad’s descriptive text reads in full, “SA’s claim is meaningless—the malicious blood libel advanced by South Africa seeks to slander the State of israel. South Africa’s claim lacks any factual or legal basis and renders meaningless.”

The ad links to the Israeli government website govextra.gov.il. The page lists information about Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack which killed 1,200 Israelis, and a video claims that “Israel is doing everything in its power to prevent harm to innocent civilians in Gaza and is acting according to international humanitarian law.”

read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7b48q/israel-defends-itself-against-hague-genocide-allegations-with-google-ads

  • intelshill@lemmy.ca
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    10 months ago

    Israel understands the first rule of international politics: you can do whatever you want so long as a global superpower has your back.

    • hottari@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      If the ICJ judges determine that Palestine is a victim of genocide (indeed), the same so-called global superpower, as one of the ratified members, is bound to stop Israel from committing further genocide on Palestinian people.

            • hottari@lemmy.ml
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              10 months ago
              1. The US cannot purport to defy an ICJ ruling meant for Israel.
              2. The US cannot stop the other ratified nations from carrying out their sworn obligation to stop genocide under the international genocide convention.
              • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
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                10 months ago
                1. The US cannot stop the other ratified nations from carrying out their sworn obligation to stop genocide under the international genocide convention.

                What you want here is a normative statement , not a descriptive one. In other words, yes the US can definitely prevent others from intervening against Israel. Whether they should is another matter.

            • hottari@lemmy.ml
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              10 months ago

              I think you are confusing the ICC with ICJ. Those are 2 different institutions.

                • hottari@lemmy.ml
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                  10 months ago

                  What ifs don’t add anything to the argument.

                  Anyway, here’s to hoping other nations will do the right thing when the ICJ ruling is passed and hold all the financial supporters of genocide against Palestinians to account.

                  • assassinatedbyCIA@lemmy.world
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                    10 months ago

                    They won’t, we have to be realistic here. While I want the opposite to be true. America does whatever it wants when it comes to international law. It’s very much ‘rules for thee but not for me’ with the states.

          • freagle@lemmygrad.ml
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            10 months ago

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members’_Protection_Act

            You have some exciting learning to do! The above act, also known colloquially as the “Hague Invasion Act” gives the president power to use “all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any U.S. or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court”.

            So it’s not nonsense to suggest the US would rather invade the ICJ than recognize such a ruling.

            • hottari@lemmy.ml
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              10 months ago

              Hold on there, the ICJ is not a country you can invade!

              And as I said earlier, ICC & ICJ are 2 different institutions.