WATCH: ‘All states must stop funding Israel’s military’ – Pandor

“All states have an obligation to stop funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions in Gaza after the World Court made clear those actions could be genocidal,” International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor said.

Pandor said there was an obligation on all countries to stop financing and facilitating Israeli military operations in Gaza.

Pandor was briefing the media on Wednesday on a range of issues.

Watch International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor speaking about Israel ignoring the ICJ order

[WATCH] DIRCO minister DR Naledi Pandor says: "The real question facing nations today is, what happens if Israel does not comply with the ICJ ruling on Gaza?" #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/wI9hYmgqSv

— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) January 31, 2024

“The finding [by the International Court of Justice (ICJ)] we think makes it clear that it is plausible that genocide is taking place against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Pandor told reporters.

“This necessarily imposes an obligation on all states to cease funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions.”

Respecting ICJ

Minister Pandor said the real question facing nations today was, what happens if Israel does not comply with the ICJ order on Gaza after it ruled that the possibility of Israel actions constitute plausible genocide.

Pandor said it remains vital for member states of the ICJ to respect and implement the decisions of the court.

“I suppose what confronts us now, is what do we do if there is no implementation.  That is the question all nations must answer today, because it is a body of the United Nations that has set out these provisional measures, it’s not the South African government or South Africa on its own, it is the International Court of Justice.

“if its orders are not respected, what does this mean for every other government that commits atrocities against a people? This is the big question that confronts us as a global community today,” Pandor said.

ALSO READ: WATCH: ‘There is no antisemitism in South Africa, it’s safe for Jews’ – Lamola

World court order

South Africa has been in the spotlight after it approached the ICJ seeking several orders, including for Israel to immediately suspend its Gaza offensive, to stop forced displacement, to enable humanitarian access to thousands of displaced Palestinians and to preserve evidence.

In its judgment on Friday, the ICJ ordered Israel to take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.

Israel said the claims of genocide were baseless, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing South Africa of “screaming” hypocrisy in pursuing its Gaza genocide case against his country.

Jews safe in SA, no antisemitism

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has rubbished claims that South Africa is antisemitic towards Jewish people in the country.

In an interview with Stephen Sackur on BBC’s Hard Talk, Lamola defended South Africa against claims made by Howard Sackstein, who said, “South Africa no longer feels like a safe space or home for Jews.”

Lamola labelled Sackstein’s claims as unfortunate saying South Africa was a safe place for Jews.

“It’s a very unfortunate statement not backed by any facts, just a figment of his own imagination As you would have seen in the court papers, we argued that our case is not against the Jewish as a people, it’s against the Zionist State of Israel.

“In South Africa there is no threat, harm or whatsoever to the Jewish people. They continue to participate in all forms of social life. As you speak to me now, nothing has happened to him [Sakstein] and nothing will happen to him or any Jewish community on the basis of their creed, sex or religion,” Lamola said.

The ICJ ordered Israel to limit harm to Palestinians in the region and report on steps it has taken within a month.

ALSO READ: Amnesty International says Israel must comply with ICJ order to prevent genocide in Gaza