Nicaragua quits ICJ suit against Israel

The Nicaraguan government withdrew this week from proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, triggering allegations of intense diplomatic pressure on Managua among Jerusalem’s critics and satisfaction among its advocates.

The ICJ, a United Nations tribunal that began investigating Israel in December 2023 for alleged genocide in Gaza at South Africa’s behest, said in a statement on Thursday that Nicaragua had informed the court on April 1 that it was withdrawing from the proceedings initiated by Pretoria.

Nicaragua was among 14 nations that announced their intention to intervene in the case, a procedure that technically does not mean they back the allegations but that, in practice, was widely seen as a means to bolster the case against Israel.

Other countries went further, announcing they would like to participate in the lawsuit alongside South Africa. Those states included Belgium, Cuba, Egypt and Ireland.

Neither the statement nor the dictatorship of Nicaragua’s co-President Daniel Ortega offered an explanation for the move by Managua, which had filed its intervention request on Feb. 8, 2024.

Israel has denied allegations of genocide and other war crimes in Gaza and beyond.

Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, reacted to the development with a tweet.

"Better late than never: Nicaragua has withdrawn its morally repugnant intervention in the baseless and outrageous case that was filed by South Africa against Israel at the ICJ. Others that made the same mistake should follow suit," Sa’ar wrote.

Ortega’s move prompted speculation that it could be connected to the assertive policies that the United States under President Donald Trump has taken against hostile and rival regimes, especially in Latin America.

"Question is who and what pressure was placed on Nicaragua by the U.S. or Israel?" Heena Khaled, a London-based manager at the British Future think tank who is critical of Israel, wrote on X.

Earlier on Thursday, Hungary announced it was pulling out of the International Criminal Court, which is separate and unrelated to ICJ. The announcement was made on the first day of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary. In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Budapest had previously said it would not honor those arrest warrants. During a joint press conference with Netanyahu, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that the ICC had become a “political court.” He added the court’s decision to issue a warrant against the Israeli leader “clearly showed” this.

© JNS