Poilievre calls Trudeau's stance on genocide case against Israel 'incomprehensible'

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre slammed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's position on South Africa's genocide claim against Israel on Monday, calling it "incomprehensible" and accusing the prime minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly of deliberately giving answers no one can understand.

Trudeau told reporters two weeks ago that Canada's "wholehearted" support for the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is adjudicating South Africa's case against Israel, "does not mean we support the premise of the case brought forward by South Africa."

Joly released a written statement hours later echoing Trudeau's language and adding that proving genocidal intent requires a high threshold of evidence.

Sources told CBC News last week that the wording of the statements was crafted to indicate that no one should assume the government supports or rejects the genocide claim outright.

"You would need a linguist with a PhD and a magnifying glass to figure out the garble that comes out of the foreign minister and the prime minister on this question, because they are deliberately giving answers that no one can comprehend," Poilievre told reporters Monday in West Vancouver. "He's divided the country on this just like every other issue."

The Conservative leader rejected South Africa's genocide allegation against Israel two weeks ago, calling the case brought before the ICJ a "shameless" and "dishonest" attack on Jewish people and the Jewish state.

"It's time for the prime minister to grow a backbone, stop trying to divide Canadians based on religion and ethnicity and take a principled stand in favour of humanity and against the real propagators of genocide, who are the Hamas terrorists," said Poilievre.

When asked by reporters why Canada isn't publicly supporting or rejecting South Africa's allegations, Joly appeared unwilling to elaborate on her previous statement.

"Well you read my statement. My statement is my statement ... I have nothing else to add on that," she responded. 

"What I can tell you is that we are following the case and we will react to it as things evolve," said Joly, who went on to describe the situation in the Middle East as "heartbreaking" and the related violence and tensions here in Canada as "heart-wrenching."

The U.S., U.K., France and Germany have all dismissed South Africa's allegations against Israel.

Israel's Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed is calling on the Canadian government to reject the case; he called the charge levied by South Africa "a completely baseless accusation."

Mona Abuamara, the chief representative of the Palestinian General Delegation to Canada, is encouraging the Canadian government to back South Africa at the ICJ, describing it as a "case for justice and accountability."

The case could take years to resolve at the ICJ.