A spectre has long haunted Israel: the spectre of South Africa. Specifically, Israeli leaders have feared that a world recognising their oppression of Palestinians as an apartheid system might be moved to impose on Israel the same international isolation that helped end South Africa’s system of white minority rule. However, few Israeli leaders would have expected that impetus to come in the form of a South African lawsuit in The Hague alleging genocide. Recent UN general assembly votes show that most of the international community is appalled by Israel’s brutalisation of Gaza, yet appears unable to act. It’s as if...