Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday slammed the International Court of Justice for twisting his words in its ruling on South Africa’s claim that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza.

The court’s verdict quoted a number of statements made by Israeli senior officials, including Herzog’s comments at a press conference on October 12 that “an entire nation” was responsible for the massacre. However, the court presented the comment as an entire statement, removing the comments Herzog made before and afterward, including that “there is no excuse for killing innocent civilians” and that “Israel will respect the international law of war.”

“”There is something shocking in seeing how the ‘post-truth’ phenomenon has permeated even the most important institutions,” Herzog said during a speech at the President’s Residence. “I was disgusted on a personal level by the way they twisted my words, using very, very partial and fragmented quotes, with the intention of supporting an unfounded legal contention.”

Herzog later wrote on Twitter:  “The very discussion at the court at the Hague – about whether the democratic, moral, responsible State of Israel, which rose from the ashes of the Holocaust with the overwhelming support of the family of nations and its institutions, is committing genocide – is tantamount to a blood libel that undermines the very values on which this court was founded.”

“No war is more justified than the one we’re fighting. The righteousness of our cause is unshaken and will not waver.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)