The trouble with international law is that it’s always been a great idea. While in principle, everyone agrees it should be the universal standard that governs the way states behave, and politicians’ speeches the world over are littered with high-minded allusions to it, in practice, international law is selectively applied, ritually ignored, and often not actually enforced.

Still, because of the moral authority it carries, the shame of hypocrisy, and the treaty obligations of signatory states, international law can shape the behavior of states and even private actors. This has been on full display with the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) January 26 ruling that Israel is plausibly carrying out a genocide in Gaza, which has been both ignored and gone unenforced by the Israeli government and Washington, while also setting off a host of legal and political efforts to end the military campaign.

The first domino to fall was in Japan. Nine days after the ICJ’s ruling and the Japanese foreign ministry’s statement that it was “legally binding” and “should be fulfilled in good faith,” Japanese investment giant Itochu Corporation announced it was ending its collaboration with Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems. The decision ends a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the two firms in only March of last year.