The selection of Nawaf Salam as Lebanon's next Prime Minister could have significant implications for Israel at the International Court of Justice, Israel Hayom reported today (Tuesday).
Salam has served as the President of the ICJ, which is hearing South Africa's accusation that Israel is committing genocide in its war against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip. He resigned this evening from his position at the ICJ to assume his new position in Lebanon.
According to the report, Salam's successor as ICJ President could be Judge Julia Sebutinde of Uganda, who has served as the court's Vice President for the last year and has defended Israel against accusations of crimes against humanity since the October 7 massacre committed by Hamas.
Sebutinde, 69, was appointed to Uganda’s Supreme Court in 1996 and became renowned for her investigations into corruption. She rose to international prominence in 2005 when she was appointed to the Special Court for Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal and for her role in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. She was appointed to the ICJ in 2012.
In January 2024, the ICJ handed down its first judgment in the case brought by South Africa against Israel.
The court refused South Africa's request to issue an order mandating that Israel end the military operation against Hamas undertaken following the massacre of over 1,200 people on October 7. However, it refused to throw out the case as Israel and many Western nations sought and issued multiple orders for Israel to take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza and to submit a report later this month on its efforts to implement all provisional measures.
Judge Sebutinde was the only member of the 17-judge panel to vote against all measures voted upon against Israel. In her dissent, she wrote that “South Africa has not demonstrated, even on a prima facie basis, that the acts allegedly committed by Israel and of which the Applicant complains, were committed with the necessary genocidal intent, and that as a result, they are capable of falling within the scope of the Genocide Convention.”
Notably, Sebutinde did not vote in line with the instructions of the Ugandan government, which stated that her vote and opinion did not reflect its own positions. The votes of most judges at the ICJ can be predicted by the policies and positions of the governments they represent.