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The International Court of Justice rejected a request from Nicaragua that Germany be forced to halt its military aid to Israel on Tuesday, arguing there was no legal basis for issuing such an order.
“Based on the factual information and legal arguments presented by the parties, the court concludes that at present the circumstances are not such as to require the exercise of its power under Article 41 of the statute to indicate provisional measures,” ICJ President Nawaf Salam said.
Nicaragua had accused Germany in March of “facilitating genocide” and “breaching the Genocide Convention” by supplying Israel with military and financial aid as it fights Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, a besieged Palestinian enclave.
Western intelligence officials and diplomats told POLITICO they believed Nicaragua had filed the case against Germany at the U.N.’s top court at the behest of Moscow, speculating that Russia intended to undermine the ICJ’s authority by making it a venue for specious legal arguments.
Germany has rejected Nicaragua’s claims, with Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, director of international law at Germany’s Foreign Office, saying “they have no basis in fact or law.”
In January, South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide in a separate case at the same court. The ICJ did not accept that claim in a preliminary ruling, but cautioned Israel to ensure that its forces don’t commit acts of genocide in their war with Hamas.
