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Briana: Tonight, the world's top court orders Israel to halt genocidal acts in Gaza as the death toll surpasses 26,000 but stop short of calling for a cease-fire.

>> We should not underestimate the importance of the ruling because now there will be pressure to comply.

Briana: The emigration battle continues, advocates try to close New Jersey's last remaining immigrant detention center.

>> This is not immigration enforcement.

It is about the health and safety of people.

Briana: Plus, the race to unseat Robert Menendez is heating up as allegations against his father cloud his campaign.

>> We wear a lot of hats but where family members are going through a challenge, you support them.

Briana: Nearly two years after the plastic bag ban, plastic consumption is skyrocketing with the overuse of reusable grocery bags.

>> This is why these types of policies are the wrong way to approach sustainability and we try to advocate for that anyway we can.

Briana: NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

♪ >> From NJ Spotlight News, Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening.

Thank you for joining us.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

Israel must take immediate steps to prevent genocide in Gaza, that order from the court after it was accused of violating international laws on genocide.

The sweeping ruling from the International Court of Justice stopped short of ordering a cease-fire which is what South Africa requested.

It ordered Israel to limit the depth and destruction and prevent and punish incitement to genocide along with ensuring humanitarian aid is getting into the enclave.

This comes a day before international holocaust remembrance Day, with many groups think it cheapens the essence of the term genocide.

The ruling operates as a restraining order of sorts while the court considers the full merits of the genocide case.

Expert site that could take years.

For more, I am joined by Kenneth Roth who served as the Executive Director for Human Rights Watch and is a visiting professor at Princeton University.

Kenneth Roth, always an honor to talk to you.

What exactly does this ruling from the ICJ mean?

Kenneth: This is an important ruling that is a repudiation of Israel's denialism.

Israel says we are lawful and not doing anything wrong, only Hamas does things wrong.

The court said no that is not a fair description.

The court stressed this was not a ruling on the ultimate merits of whether Israel is committing genocide or not.

This was a protective order to protect the rights of Palestinians that aims to make sure they are not compromised into the genocide convention, and the court found a plausible they would be if it did not intervene, so that is why it issued its order today.

Briana: It is a binding order but is there any way to enforce this ruling?

I am thinking of course back to 2022, when the court also ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine.

We see two years later that war is still raging.

Are there any teeth to this?

Kenneth: The court stressed which is legally true that this is a binding decision, but the only way to apply coercive measures would be through the United Nations Security Council dealing with the U.S. veto and usually it exercises the veto to protect Israel, but we should not underestimate the importance of the ruling because now there will be an almost pressure on Israel to comply.

It can't say, Oh, well, we would have accepted the court's ruling if it was in our favor but reject an adverse ruling.

That is not going to wash.

I think the burden is on the supporters of Israel to press Netanyahu to live up to what the court ordered.

Clearly Biden has the most average, $3.8 billion in military aid, a major arms supplier.

The U.S. says they support a rules-based order.

You can't have an Israeli exception to that.

Briana: What would this look like in a practical sense?

These emergency measures are put in place, do we expect Israel to comply?

What have we heard so far from Prime Minister Netanyahu, and what might we see change?

Kenneth: Netanyahu issued a statement that was a typical statement, APR statement, not a legal statement that said it is outrageous but the court did not rule that.

This was just a provisional ruling.

He said nobody will stop our self-defense and claiming they have to stop self-defense.

It is about the means used in that self-defense.

There are key elements.

One is to stop the bombing that is causing so much harm to civilians, particularly things like these 2000-pound bombs, which was a key part of South Africa's case.

The second thing is to open up and let the ADN.

The court went on and on about the huge deprivation caused in the Palestinian civilian population Gaza and ordered Israel to stop the obstructionism, the dribs and drabs that aid, and open the doors because otherwise there is massive starvation, deprivation, a real catastrophe.

Briana: I think that the gravity, the history of Israel, being accused of the very crime that is deeply woven into the fabric of Israel and the Israeli people, which is genocide, as someone who has spent their life studying this, watching this, I feel like we can't undervalue the peace of how heavy this is.

Kenneth: You are absolutely right, Briand appeared that was part of the Israeli Defense it is not a defense.

Yes, it was created to protect Jews after the holocaust but that does not mean defending itself after the October 7 attack that anything goes.

It still has to abide by basic rules on the court found that was possible Israel was violating the genocide convention.

Briana: Thank you so much.

Immigrant rights groups are joining the legal fight against the last remaining detention facility.

A federal judge in August sided with the for-profit prison company that runs the Elizabeth detention center saying ending detention would "be nothing short of chaos," but as the ACLU and others argued the state is within its constitutional rights to shut them down.

We have this report.

>> This case is about who has power.

This is not about immigration enforcement.

It is about the health and safety of the people at New Jersey's borders.

>> It is between the Murphy administration and core civic, a for-profit company that operates the Elizabeth immigration detention center.

They won a lawsuit in August that child to state law that prohibits private detention in the state.

New Jersey's Attorney General Matt Plotkin has filed an appeal in the third Circuit Court.

>> States have what is called a traditional police power to regulate in the area of health and safety in order to protect the residents and people within their borders.

And so in this particular case, the state makes clear in the legislative findings that the reason they are adopting this legislation is a direct result of the health and safety risks presented by immigration detention.

>> The Biden administration weighed in on behalf of core civic calling the New Jersey law unconstitutional.

Now, 28 organizations have filed an amicus brief with the court in support of the AG's position citing abuse and neglect that have occurred in the EDC.

>> People died while I was there and after because of neglect and then they tried to say it was some poor guy who had a seizure and they put him in solitary.

>> Those allegations by her who says she reported many instances during her 13 months at EDC, although we could not independently verify her example.

She was sent to EDC for leaving the country on a business trip while her green card was still being and was detained in spite of a judge saying she should remain free.

She says she too was denied medical care when she extends dangerously high blood pressure after learning a family member had died.

The officer added insult to injury.

>> The officer shouted at me.

I said to her, you cannot talk to me like that.

She said this is America, I can talk to you however I want.

If you don't like it, go back to your country.

>> Core -- said our mission is to help the government solve problems in ways it could not do alone.

ICE conduct scheduled and unannounced inspections and audits with that staff or independently contracted monitors on our facilities.

An attorney who wrote an amicus brief on behalf of a Catholic human rights organization St. Pete oversight is not enough in the very nature of privately run detention centers are problematic.

>> At the federal level at least privately run institutions are not protected by the act.

They are motivated to decrease costs, increase profits, and research shows they implement cost-cutting measures that the negative effect of people incarcerated and their health and safety.

>> The contributors focused on the Biden administration's commitment to ending private prison companies, yet supporting the continuance of EDC.

>> Although they announce they will no longer use private prison companies in the criminal context, they continue to use private prison companies in the immigration context, so there is an inconsistency.

>> California brought a similar appeal to the Ninth Circuit court and lost, so even if New Jersey wins it could tea up a battle in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Briana: The fight for the U.S. Senate seat may be heating up for Menendez from about a poll finds most New Jersey voters don't even know who is running.

The poll finds 45% of those asked did not know or have an opinion of Congressman Andy Kim, one of several contenders vying for the nomination in the June Democratic primary.

38% of those surveyed were unaware of First Lady Tammy Murphy.

24% were unsure of her.

It means the two front runners have a long way to go in terms of building name recognition of the next few months, and that's not the only contentious race.

There is a battle for a house seat in the eighth district held by Congressman Robert Menendez.

This week on Chat Box, David Cruise spoke with Menendez and his challenger about the rough-and-tumble world of Hudson County elections and how the federal indictment against the senior Menendez is playing into the race.

♪ >> You are and one of the most unique political situations I can recall.

So we have to unpack about.

>> Sure.

>> First the challenge made by your opponent and others that you are in your seat now only because your father forgives to have the seat when it was the 13th congressional district essentially handed it to you.

Is that fair?

>> You know, listen, we have heard that for years now since we were first elected in 2022.

We have a track record.

You look at our work, what we built, the team here and in Washington and work we have done solving cases for 1100 families and the district, got right to work in Washington.

We are proud of the work we have done.

We have dedicated ourselves to this role, and that is what we will ultimately be judged on.

Anyone else has low side of the fact we have gone to work every day since being elected and do not wish to be judged.

>> You are the only one in the congressional delegation who is not calling on Senator Menendez to resign.

Can we safely say that is your dad and what else can we expect?

Or, is there some other rationale you want to present?

>> Listen, it is my father.

We talked about being from Hudson County, you stick with your people.

I think everybody deserves their spot in court to present their case.

I think we should reserve judgment of people.

That is not just for people, your family members, but everyone.

We talk a lot about it and it is something I believe in.

And he is my father.

>> This may be an unfair question but I am asking it anyway, can you talk a little bit about what the conversations were like when all this was happening?

>> Yeah, I mean, it was a fast evolving process, right?

At the end of the day we wear a lot of hats but in a situation where family members are going through a challenge, you support them.

>> I want to start with the rationale, what have you got against the Congressman who has served the district for just about a year?

Hasn't he done alright by Hoboken?

>> Well, you know, we have had a process in Hudson County, not elections, but selections, so it's not about you know, whether somebody has been doing that but finding the best quality candidate and having a choice in a district.

We have not had a choice in decades for this congressional seat.

It has been anointed by political party bosses, and this is the first time where you will seat you will have a contrast between somebody who has been given a congressional seat by his father in somebody who has an earned record of accomplishment.

Serving as the mayor of a consequential city for six years, and on the city Council for eight years.

>> This has been a seat that has been handed down you know since the father of the current Congressman gave up his seat.

His successor was anointed, and I use air quotes.

Why haven't you fought the system before?

>> This is not 16th-century England where people are anointed seats and they get passed down through generations to families after families.

This is a democracy.

This is where people should have a choice.

This is where people should have the ability to judge people based upon merit and based upon qualifications, and that is what this candidacy is all about.

Why did I not run before?

Because I want to build up a track record unlike my opponent that accomplishments through 16 years of public service.

I expect to bring those experiences and accomplishments to Washington.

Briana: You can watch the full interview with the mayor and Congressman Menendez at 6:30 on Sunday morning at 10:30 on NJPBS.

On Reporters Roundtable, I will be in the seat for David Cruz kicking up the show with Tom Malinowski and his decision to endorse Andy Kim in his run for Senate, then a panel of local reporters break down this week's political headlines.

That is Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday at 10:00 a.m. right here on NJPBS.

♪ In our spotlight on business report, New Jersey transit is scrapping controversy or to build a natural gas power plant in the Meadowlands.

The plan had been at the heart of the New Jersey transit grid proposal which the agency drafted in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy the 2012 storm devastated the state transit system in the project was meant to keep power flowing to NJ transit operations at the larger power grid is knocked out.

The agency now says recent resiliency projects completed made them microgrid less necessary and will redirect more than $500 million in federal funding set aside for the grid to other system-hardening projects.

Roughly half the money will replace the rail bridge over a river and $170 million go to a new railyard outside flood Sons in New Brunswick.

Environment to activist have railed against it for years arguing it would undercut the staple of transitioning to clean energy and add pollution to already overburdened communities around the Meadowlands.

Years after the state put a single use plastic bag ban in place, there are still conflicting studies on how much it is helping the environment.

New research finds the ban cut down on use of plastics, while also increasing the use of reusable plastic bags that could be just as bad, if not worse.

As Ted Goldberg reports, advocates agree there is truth to the argument that the data was commissioned by a group in the plastic bag industry.

♪ >> Nearly two years after New Jersey banned single-use plastic bags in grocery stores, people still don't agree if it was a good idea.

>> The results have been phenomenal.

>> They have contributed to more plastic being consumed in higher greenhouse gas emissions.

>> A recent study found that New Jersey has almost tripled its use of plastic since it came into effect.

While the study was commissioned by an association representing manufacturers for plastic bags, Senator Bob Smith does not dispute the data.

>> It is very small is a growing pain when we can easily remedy if there's something we need to remedy it.

If on the other hand, it is the latter point, that we should not be banning single-use plastic bags, that I would fiercely disagree with.

>> Senator Smith sponsored the legislation keeping single use plastic out of checkout lines.

If anything, he says New Jersey should go further in getting rid of plastic.

>> We have to push the envelope and get more plastic out of the environment.

If we took you to the hospital and had your blood tested, what you think would be in your blood?

Plastic particles.

So I have a feeling in a decade or so plastics will be viewed just like tobacco.

>> Until then some people are left stockpiling reusable plastic bags.

>> We told the authors of the bill years ago this is exactly what would happen.

>> The leader for the plastics industry Association says the issue with single-use plastic bags is people not reusing them enough in littering, but thinks banning them outright leads to other problems.

>> This is why these types of policies are wrong to approach sustainability, and we advocate for that anyway we can.

>> Not everybody is taking that study at face value.

>> Over time we will not be buying reusable plastic bags because they will be reused over and over again.

>> Executive Director for clean Ocean action has a bone to pick about how the study measured plastic consumption.

>>>> You're using that back 125 times according to the New Jersey DEP.

Each one of those bags by definition to be a reusable bag should be reasonable 125 times, not the two to three in the study.

>> She says beaches have seen fewer plastic bags.

>> We are seeing remarkable success in progress.

Our data from beach sweeps 2022, the annual report found single use plastic bags were reduced by over 37%.

>> Senator Smith said there could be more legislation banning single-use plastic this year and singled out food delivery as a possible target, setting up another battle between industry and environmentalism.

For NJ Spotlight News, I am Ted Goldberg.

Briana: While Street.

Stocks on a winning streak.

Here are out markets closed for the week.

♪ And to in this weekend to NJ Business Beat.

With recent flooding causing issues for New Jersey cities, we speak with other experts about the cost for businesses and how an action at the state and federal level could damage the economy, Saturday 5:00 and Sunday morning 9:30 here on NJPBS.

And finally, the next time you're worrying about the landscaping in your yard, consider this, exotic plants most often found in nurseries may be causing more harm that they are worth.

Experts say they can burden the natural habitat and severed the food web for insects and other species.

Instead, more emphasis is being put on native plants that grow in a region without being planted.

That was the topic this week between state and federal leaders as they look to native plants has one weapon in the fight against climate change.

>> We are working hard to bring much of our ecosystem back to the way it functions best.

>> She believes native plants are key to making sure New Jersey's ecosystem is healthy.

>> You have locally adapted eco-specific plants in these landscaping projects make it so that we have better flood mitigation techniques.

We have few or even Ace of species.

The native species here thrive and it uses less water from our systems.

>> The congresswoman is now pushing legislation focusing on nature of rehabilitation and flood prevention and says native plants are critical to the state's landscape.

>> There is currently know U.S. government-wide statute requiring federal entities to incorporate native plants in the building at the landscaping projects, and this would change that.

>> Environmental advocates jointer Thursday at this discussion emphasizing the importance of native plants indigenous to a region and exists without being planted.

>> Native plants are the crux of how we will rehabilitate and reclaim ecosystems.

Without that you will not succeed.

>> As the state sees increased flooding across communities environmental advocates say native plants could help improve the negative effects of climate change.

>> Especially in the state like New Jersey where most of our land has been altered.

By bringing back our native species, it is one of the best solutions we have been order to have resilience against climate change.

It is flooding.

It is actually native plants.

And you touch upon this.

They have the best adaptability to changing temperatures, changing weather, changing climate, right?

Those are the plans that will resist drastic changes in temperature because they are in their native habitat.

>> Below the ground is where they do the work we care about, so the root systems of native plants tend to be deeper in the soil, holding the soil together better.

They tend to absorb the pollutants and allow for more percolation of storm water into the soil, so that is how we are mitigating that flooding issue.

>> The roundtable discussion comes after server number -- Governor Murphy vetoed a bill to combat invasive species.

DEP confirming work has been underway for years to tackle the issue.

>> It is incumbent upon us to do that because of our changing climate and the need to mitigate flooding, and our need to recognize that when we engineer with nature, it is more sustainable, cheaper, more lasting.

>> There are 2100 native plant species in the state and advocates by keeping them protected will ensure a more balanced ecosystem.

Briana: That does it for us tonight.

Don't forget to download the NJ Spotlight News podcasts or you can listen anytime.

I am Brenda Flanagan for the entire NJ Spotlight News team.

Thanks for being with us.

Have a great weekend and we will see you right back here Monday.

♪ >> NJM Insurance Group, serving insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

And by the PSCG foundation.

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