ICC warrants expose Netanyahu's global isolation
ICC judges acted to uphold the credibility of the international justice system
Almost seven months since the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan asked the court to issue warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his now former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, including top Hamas military and political leaders, the judging panel has finally met his request.
The 21st of November 2024 will go down in history as Netanyahu’s day of infamy. It’s a matter of fact today that Israeli PM and Gallant are now wanted men for allegedly committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
No one would have imagined such an outcome a few years ago. To be accurate, Israel has been accused of violating international law and the Geneva Conventions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip for years. The charges were levelled against top Israeli leaders by human rights groups, including Israeli ones, for years. But no legal action had taken place to make Israel and its leaders accountable before international forums, especially at the UN and its organs.
That is until Israel responded to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks with an unprecedented mass murder in Gaza. The evidence had been piling up. Netanyahu has broken every law and every convention under the guise of self-defence.
Genocide in Gaza
The murder of 1200 Israelis cannot justify the killing of over 44,000 Palestinians so far. No self-defence argument can justify starving millions or bombing hospitals and UN schools and killing journalists. It certainly does not exonerate Israel of targeting civilians in designated safe areas. It can never convince the world that blowing up universities, hospitals, and religious places of worship is an acceptable response.
Tel Aviv now faces a charge of committing genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a charge that is now being backed by a dozen nations and counting. In a provisional ruling last January, the court asked Israel to avoid killing civilians and allow for the flow of humanitarian aid. According to multiple parties, including the US State Department, it has ignored that ruling.
The latest ICC move must have come as a shock to Israel and its staunchest allies. For months, Israel and the United States have tried to put pressure on the ICC judges and its prosecutor to delay or even bury the case against Netanyahu and Gallant.
Various media reports pointed to the possibility that the ICC judges and Khan were subject to blackmail and intimidation. Khan is now grappling with an investigation into sexual misconduct in an attempt to discredit him. His predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, was the subject of blackmail by the Israeli Mossad, aimed at dropping an investigation of war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Respecting court’s decision
Still, the ICC judges came through because if they hadn’t, the entire international judicial system would have lost credibility.
The arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant can never be dropped. They are now a matter of fact. Both men are wanted for the alleged crimes. At least 124 countries that have signed the Rome Statute could arrest both. No amount of intimidation can abrogate this.
While Netanyahu and Gallant will never submit themselves to the court at The Hague, the stigma that they are now wanted men for the most heinous of crimes will follow them until death.
Naturally, Israel has rejected the move, with Netanyahu accusing the court of anti-Semitism. Senior US lawmakers have rallied to demonise the ICC, with members of Congress calling for a bi-partisan law imposing sanctions on the court. President Joe Biden described the charges as “outrageous.”
The incoming Donald Trump administration may adopt extreme measures against the ICC and the ICJ. The hostility against the UN and its bodies will tear the ties between the US and most European countries. A number of them, such as Germany, France, the UK, and the Netherlands, have declared that they will respect the court’s decision.
Israel is now in a fix. It risks becoming a pariah state by attacking the UN, the ICJ, and the ICC. Its defiance will only exacerbate its legal situation. The ICC move has set precedence.
Hubris and overconfidence are traits shared by some current Israeli leaders and pro-Zionist US officials, posing a potential risk to the stability of a rules-based order.
Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.