The Charter of the United Nations—a multilateral, law-making treaty—stipulates in its Preamble and several articles that human rights are protected by international law. The idea of natural law is based upon the acceptance of certain principles of right and justice that prevail because of their own intrinsic merit. Nurtured by a social-Darwinian conception of world politics and by a tenacious commitment to the exigencies of realpolitik, such unwillingness subverts the peremptory obligations of international law and perpetuates the primacy of positivist jurisprudence over the requirements of justice. Although legal scholars may understand that genocide has always been prohibited by international law the post-World War II criminalization of genocide has been especially explicit and far-reaching. In acting to punish the crime of genocide, Israel acted to safeguard not only its own interests, but also the interests of the entire community of humankind.