Natasha Hausdorff (born October 1989) is a British barrister, international law expert, and speaker.[1] She has commented on issues relating to Israel and the Middle East.[2]
Hausdorff grew up in Kensington, a borough of London, England.[3][4] Her Israeli father was born in Tel Aviv.[3][4] Her paternal family goes back eight generations in Israel.[3] Her paternal ancestor Azriel Zelig Hausdorf was born in Myslovitz[5] and emigrated to Jerusalem, by way of London, in 1847.[3] Her parents met in Israel.[6][2]
Hausdorff’s practice includes commercial litigation, arbitration, regulatory matters, and public international law. She represents domestic and international clients, including private companies and government departments, both as sole counsel and junior to leading counsel.[11]
Israel advocacy
On a volunteer pro bono basis, Hausdorff is the legal director of UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust.[1][10][6][2] She speaks for Israel on a pro bono basis, and has spoken about the international law that applies to the status of the territory of Israel, and the rule of customary international law of uti possidetis juris.[6][13] Hausdorff appeared on the debate program "Intelligence Squared," and has spoken at the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University College Dublin, Trinity College, and Durham University.[2]
Lawfare
Hausdorff has stated that because Israel's opponents had concluded that warfare and terror attacks had not achieved their goal of eliminating the state, they had taken a different approach to attack Israel in the international legal arena.[14] She called this approach "lawfare," meaning the abuse of the law for these political means.[14] She is of the opinion that many of the charges brought against Israel before international bodies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) are based on falsehoods and the manipulation of international law.[14] She said that even thought seas cases may not ultimately be successful, those bringing the false charges do so for the public relations agenda they pursue, as they generate negative media attention about Israel.[14] She believes as well that lawfare discredits "real international law and generates a double standard concerning the Jewish state."[14]
In January 2024, Hausdorff discussed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling explaining that this provisional measures order by the Court simply determined whether South Africa claimed “plausible rights”, namely whether it raised a case that engaged the Genocide Convention and therefore fell for the consideration of the Court. "[21] She said that the "provisional measures" that the court said Israel was obligated to undertake, were those that Israel was clear it was already in compliance with. She also addressed the quotes that South Africa had advanced as part of its case alleging "incitement to genocide comments", which had been misrepresented and manipulated, including by South Africa having left out context which demonstrated the quotations referred to Hamas.[21]
Hamas casualty figures
As to the widely reported Hamas generated casualty figures in the Gaza war, she noted that independent reports had discredited the figures and that Hamas has an interest in inflating its reports. She further explained that the Hamas figures do not indicate how many of those allegedly killed were Hamas combatants, and that while civilian deaths were certainly to be lamented, the ratio of civilian deaths in the packed urban Gaza Strip were likely significantly lower than in comparable military engagements.[21] She referenced reports of Hamas shooting its own civilians and of Palestinian terror rockets falling short in the Gaza strip, killing indiscriminately. While emphasising that international humanitarian law was intention based and not effects based, she has drawn comparisons between the civilian to combatant ratio in Gaza, which was between 1:1.5 and 1:1 and the United Nations reported that a global average in urban warfare of 1:9, and United States statistics in its wars Iraq and Afghanistan reflected 1:3 to one and 1:5 respectively.[21][22] although some believe the real death toll is far higher [23]
United Nations
Hausdorff has noted the peculiarity of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) having a Standing Agenda Item 7 covering "Human rights violations and implications of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories"—given that no other country in the world is subjected by the UNHRC to a stand-alone focus on the UNHRC permanent agenda.[14] She also noted the targeting of Israel via the so called "UN blacklist" of firms, which singles out Israeli companies and companies operating in the disputed territories.
In 2024, Hausdorff participated in a high-level panel at the 79th United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week, focusing on proportionality in armed conflict.[24]
ICC
Speaking in May 2024 about International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Kahn having requested the issuance of arrest warrants against leaders of Hamas as well as against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, she said: "[T]here should not have been any threat from the criminal court, because it has no jurisdiction to investigate the events taking place on the soil of Israel or Gaza. The court's jurisdiction is limited to conflicts that occur on the territory of countries that are signatories to the Treaty of Rome that established the ICC ... or to actions for which a complaint has been filed by a member state.... Since Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Convention and has never recognized the jurisdiction of the court, [the ICC] cannot deal with what is happening on [Israel's] territory. Since a Palestinian state does not exist, he cannot discuss its claims either.... Therefore, it is easy to see that the motives of the criminal court and prosecutor ... are distinctly political."[25]
Hezbollah pager attack
After the Hezbollah pager attack in September 2024, in which over 3,000 pagers intended for use by Hezbollah militants exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria, Hausdorff said that if Israel was responsible, then on the information that was available the attack appeared to be "incredibly precise. Rules on targeting are principally necessity, distinction, and proportionality.[26] It is hard to imagine a better means of targeting Hezbollah operatives."[27][26]
Submissions to Parliaments
Hausdorff has made submissions to a number of different Parliaments including such as the Irish,[28] Czech,[29] and UK.[30] In turn, she has also been quoted by British lawmakers.[31]
Submissions to international courts
Through the NGO UKLFI, Hausdorff has made multiple submissions to international courts and tribunals, highlighting the inaccurate information before them and the proper application of international law.[32][33]
In South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ, the dissenting opinion of ICJ vice-president Julia Sebutinde highlighted many of the arguments Hasudorff had raised, including the application of uti possidetis juris regarding the status of the disputed territory.[34]
On 24 April 2024 Hausdorff gave expert evidence to the Business and Trade Committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on the proper interpretation of the ICJ’s Provisional Measures Order of 26 January 2024.[35]
On 25 April 2024, the former president of the ICJ, who had authored the Provisional Measures Order, confirmed Hausdorff’s analysis of the ICJ’s Order.[36]
In November 2024, she participated in a debate at Oxford University. The event caused much controversy with several Oxford academics writing to “unequivocally condemn the incendiary remarks made by some speakers in support of Hamas and terrorist violence." The Oxford Union ended up voting for the proposition that "Israel is an apartheid state that is committing genocide" with 278 votes for and only 59 votes against.[43]
Personal
Hausdorff's ancestor Azriel Zelig Hausdorf was a Zionist who came to Jerusalem in 1847.[44] He was responsible for philanthropic building projects in the Old City of Jerusalem, including a shelter and hospitality project[45][46] and the construction of a hospital. As a leading member of Jerusalem's Jewish community in 1866 he was authorized by the Prussian consul to act as a defense attorney for Jews in legal proceedings.[47]
In October 2024, The Jerusalem Post named Hausdorff the #2 young "2024 ViZionary," that being the #2 most influential young Zionist, and a "prominent advocate for Israel's legal rights on the global stage."[1]
