The Vice-President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and fervent Christian Zionist, Julia Sebutinde, claims God is calling her to defend Israel, raising serious concerns about the court’s credibility.
The 71-year-old judge from Uganda has publicly come out for the first time to address the criticism she has been receiving for siding with Israel on the international stage.
In an interview with Ugandan media outlet Monitor, Sebutinde claimed that she has been disowned by her country for her controversial stance on Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“There are now about 30 countries against Israel… the Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel. The whole world was against Israel, including my country,” Justice Sebutinde said at her church on Sunday.
Sebutinde rose to the headlines last January, as she was appointed the acting president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague where she currently serves as the Vice President.
Controversy soon followed as she was accused of plagiarising pro-Israeli sources to defend the occupation of Palestine.
Sebutinde was the only judge on a 17-member panel at the ICJ to oppose all six provisional measures that the court had issued last year in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.
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The Ugandan authorities were quick to defend their country’s reputation, stating that Sebutinde’s pro-Israel stance does not representative of the governments position on the Gaza genocide.
Adonia Ayebare Uganda’s UN representative said on X: “Justice Sebutinde’s ruling at the ICJ does not represent the Government of Uganda’s position on the situation in Palestine. Uganda’s support for the plight of the Palestinian people has been expressed through our voting pattern at the United Nations.”
Mr Vincent Bagiire Wasswa, the Permanent Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also said: “She made an independent decision that was being misconstrued to be a decision of Uganda.”
He continued, adding that, “the comments were to make clear that her decision was independent.”
On December 29, 2024, South Africa filed a case against Israel, accusing it of “genocidal acts” during the IDF’s operations in Gaza.
The application filed “concerning alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” the ICJ said in a press release.
South Africa also accused Israel of “failing to prevent genocide” and “prosecuting the direct and public incitement to genocide” in the application.
Sebutinde’s Zionist views
Julia Sebutinde was the first African woman to sit on the ICJ, and was subsequently appointed as the court’s acting president after Nawaf Salam left the role in January 2025 to become Lebanon’s Prime Minister.
The position as president of the ICJ would have significant power in influencing the genocide case in favour of Israel, should they decide to do so.
Whilst only having been in the office of Acting President for less than 3 months, many analysts at the time expressed deep concern over the potential soft power she would use to influence a decision in favour of Israel.
Sebutinde is a member of the Watoto Church, based in the capital of Kampala.
It’s Pastor, Gary Skinner, is also a staunch Christian Zionist, stating that the “end times” will see the return of all Jews to Israel.
Sebutinde has acknowledged the influence that the Watoto Church has had on her views and her legal practice.
Justice Sebutinde is now serving her final nine-year term at the ICJ in the Netherlands. She says that the crisis in Gaza is a sign of the “end times.”
“I have a very strong conviction that we are in the End Times. The signs are being shown in the Middle East. I want to be on the right side of history… I would encourage you to follow the developments in Israel,” she said.
