Israel vor internationalen Gerichten

The article analyses Israel's engagement with international courts, focusing on the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It traces key advisory opinions of the ICJ (2004, 2024, 2025) alongside the pending genocide case brought by South Africa and recent ICC proceedings. The article shows how the ICJ has developed a coherent legal assessment of Israel's policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, identifying violations of fundamental norms of international law, including the prohibition of territorial acquisition by force, the right to self-determination, and core rules of international humanitarian and human rights law. It further highlights the Court's articulation of legal consequences for Israel, third states, and the United Nations, particularly the non-recognition of unlawful situations and duties of cooperation. At the same time, the analysis underscores the structural limits of international adjudication, given the non-binding nature of advisory opinions and persistent non-compliance. By situating recent litigation and arrest warrant proceedings within this framework, the article argues that international courts play a central but constrained role in shaping the legal discourse on the conflict and in clarifying the normative architecture of contemporary international law.