Early life and ancestry
Hausdorff grew up in Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. [1] [2] She attended the Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith, West London, [3] and she is fluent in German. [4]
Her Israeli father was born in Tel Aviv, [1] [2] and her parents met in Israel. [5] [6] According to Hausdorff, her family "goes back eight generations in the Land of Israel". [7] Her paternal ancestor Azriel Zelig Hausdorf, a Zionist philanthropist, was born in Myslovitz, Poland, [8] and emigrated to Jerusalem, by way of London, in 1847. [1] [9] He was responsible for philanthropic building projects in the Old City of Jerusalem, including a shelter and hospitality project [10] [11] and the construction of a hospital. As a leading member of Jerusalem's Jewish community in 1866 he was authorised by the Prussian consul to act as a defense attorney for Jews in legal proceedings. [12]
Legal career
Hausdorff specialises in commercial, regulatory and international law, and is a barrister with 6 Pump Court Chambers in London since 2016. [5] [14] Before coming to the Bar, Hausdorff qualified as a solicitor in 2015, with the United States multinational commercial law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, with whom she practised in London and Brussels from 2013 to 2015. [13] [15] Hausdorff clerked for the president of the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem, Chief Justice Miriam Naor, from June until August 2016. [16] [5]
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. [15]
Israel advocacy
On a volunteer pro bono basis, Hausdorff is the legal director of UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust. [17] [14] [5] [6] 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 . [5] [18] Hausdorff appeared on the debate programme "Intelligence Squared," and has spoken at the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University College Dublin, Trinity College, and Durham University. [6] Hausdorff has stated that she opposes the creation of an independent Palestinian state, arguing it has no foundation in international law, and that Israel is the legitimate sovereign power over the West Bank. [19]
"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. [20] She categorised this conclusion, meaning the abuse of the law for political means, under the detractor's framing of the term lawfare and referred to it as such. [20] 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. [20] She said that even though these 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. [20] She believes as well that "lawfare" discredits "real international law and generates a double standard concerning the Jewish state." [20]
Hausdorff has appeared as a commentator on legal matters for international media, including the BBC, [21] Sky News, [22] Talk TV, [23] Fox News, [24] CNN, and GB News. [15] She has also written for The Telegraph , The Sunday Telegraph , The Times , The Law Society Gazette , and The Algemeiner . [25] [26] [15] She has briefed politicians and international organisations, and has spoken at European parliaments and at the United Nations. [15] Hausdorff has been a keynote speaker on aspects of public international law, foreign affairs, and national security policy. [15]
ICJ ruling
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. [27] 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. Hausdorff also addressed the quotes that South Africa had advanced as part of its case alleging "incitement to genocide comments", which she says had been misrepresented and manipulated, including by South Africa allegedly having left out context which supposedly demonstrated the quotations referred to Hamas. [27]
Hausdorff has been skeptical of the casualty figures coming from the Gaza Ministry of Health, claiming that inflated casualty numbers from the initial reports of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion were never reduced in the official tally. The Health Ministry additionally does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, she argues, as a way to obfuscate high combatant death counts. [27]
United Nations
Hausdorff has said that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has a Standing Agenda Item 7 covering "Human rights violations and implications of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories", and has alleged that no other country in the world is subjected by the UNHRC to a stand-alone focus on the UNHRC permanent agenda. [20] She also said that the so called "UN blacklist" of firms singles out Israeli companies and companies operating in the Israeli-occupied territories. In 2024, Hausdorff participated in a panel at the 79th United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week, focusing on proportionality in armed conflict. [28]
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. [30] It is hard to imagine a better means of targeting Hezbollah operatives." [31] [30]
Submissions to parliaments
Hausdorff has made submissions to a number of different legislatures including the Irish, [32] Czech, [33] and UK parliaments. [34] In turn, she has also been quoted by British lawmakers. [35]
Submissions to international courts
Through the NGO UKLFI, Hausdorff has made multiple submissions to international courts and tribunals. [36] [37]
On 24 April 2024, Hausdorff gave evidence to the Business and Trade Committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on the "relevant legal, political and military issues impacting UK arms exports to Israel". [38]
Debating
At university, Hausdorff was active in debate. [39] In June 2024, she partnered with Douglas Murray [40] at the Munk Debate, [41] debating against Mehdi Hasan and Gideon Levy, and she and Murray convinced two-thirds of the audience that antisemitism and anti-Zionism are the same; 61% of the audience already believed this before the debate. [42] [43] [44]
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. [45]
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