Former Israeli Supreme Court President, Aharon Barak, accuses Palestinian Islamist group Hamas of crimes against humanity and calls for the international community to take action during a press conference together with some of the hostage’s family in Tel Aviv, Israel November 3, 2023 Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File photo

Israel has named its former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak as its addition to an International Court of Justice panel due this week to hear a genocide allegation filed against it, an Israeli official said on Sunday.

Under the ICJ’s rules a state that does not have a judge of its nationality already on the bench can choose an ad hoc judge to sit in their case.

Barak, a champion of Supreme Court activism, was a focus of opposition for members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, whose judicial reform push last year bitterly polarized the public.

South Africa, which falsely accuses Israel of genocide in the Gaza war, has also appointed an ad hoc judge, former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, South African media said.