Nicaragua has long been a champion of the Palestinian cause, but its move against Germany, with which it has traditionally enjoyed amicable ties, shocked many observers in Berlin and beyond. Just a week before Nicaragua brought the case against Germany on March 1, the German foreign ministry described the relationship between the two countries as a “close friendship.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin may have had good reason to tinker with the court — and to employ his longstanding allies in Nicaragua to help.
The two countries have a deep connection. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union supported the leftist Sandinista rebels, who overthrew the Nicaraguan government in 1979. In recent years, Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega has increasingly modelled his authoritarian regime on Russia’s, drawing inspiration in particular from Putin’s law on “foreign agents.”
In its case against Germany at the ICJ, Nicaragua argues that by exporting arms to Israel, Berlin made itself an accessory to the killing of civilians in Gaza.
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said some 13,000 Palestinian militants had been killed and estimated the civilian death rate to be 1-1.5 for every combatant since Israel launched its war on Hamas in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 massacres. Local health authorities operating under the Hamas-run government say more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed.
In January, South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide in a separate case at the ICJ. The court, in a preliminary ruling, did not accept the claim, though it did caution Israel to ensure that its forces don’t commit acts of genocide during the Gaza campaign.
