The Israeli government, which is currently in panic mode, is paying U.S.-based search engine Google to manipulate search results by prioritizing their websites to spread their propaganda, as the country stands trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, following South Africa’s initiative.
An ad saying South Africa’s claim is “meaningless” appears at the top of the page when a search using the keywords “icj israel case” is made on Jan. 13 on Google from a browser without an ad-blocker.
When the same search using the same keywords is made on a different browser, another ad saying “SA's case against israel - Stand with Us” pops up at the top of the page, with a URL directing the reader to an Israeli government website.
A brief scroll shows video results from YouTube, saying “Israel accuses South Africa of distorting the truth in ICJ” and “Germany weighs in on South Africa's 'genocide' case against Israel at ICJ.”
The same search made on a browser with an ad-blocker does not show Israel’s ads but puts the videos mentioned above at the top of the search results.
Not a single Western country supports South Africa's case, despite damning evidence showing Israel's atrocities against civilians and civilian infrastructure in the blockaded enclave.
Türkiye, Malaysia, Jordan, Venezuela, the Maldives, Colombia, Bolivia and the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), which consists of 57 states, support South Africa's move.
On Friday, Germany said it would support Israel during the ICJ trial and “intervene” as a third party in the hearing.
"German government firmly and explicitly rejects the accusation of genocide that has now been made against Israel before the International Court of Justice. This accusation has no basis whatsoever," spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement on Friday.
He argued that Germany bears special responsibility for Israel due to the Nazi genocide of Jews during World War II and said the government will continue to support Israel to "defend" itself against Hamas.
On Friday, the Israeli government began defending itself at the World Court, dismissed accusations of genocide but failed to provide any convincing arguments or evidence.
South Africa, which brought the case, accused Israeli authorities of perpetrating genocide against Palestinians in Gaza during their military assault. It also requested provisional measures from the court to protect the Palestinian people, including by calling upon Israel to halt military attacks immediately.
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed around 1,200 people.
At least 23,708 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children and 60,050 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Soon after the current conflict began on Oct. 7, Israel ordered over 1 million people in the northern Gaza Strip to relocate to the south, regardless of warnings from humanitarian groups that such a large displacement would be a humanitarian disaster.
According to the U.N., 85% of the population of Gaza is already internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure is damaged or destroyed.
The ICJ will likely rule within a matter of weeks on South Africa's request. Its rulings are final and legally binding but it has little power to enforce them.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has long been a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause, often linking it to its own struggle against the white-minority government, which had cooperative relations with Israel.
In an 84-page submission, the lawyers urged judges to order Israel to "immediately suspend its military operations" in Gaza, alleging Israel "has engaged in, is engaging in, and risks further engaging in genocidal acts."
Israel has killed over 23,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza, since the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion. It has reduced large parts of the Gaza Strip to rubble with its bombing campaign.
