Richard Kemp, Rafael Bardaji
Is the International Criminal Court about to issue arrest warrants for top-level Israeli political and military leaders? That is certainly the view of some legal professionals in the court’s Hague ecosystem — and perhaps as early as this week. Any indictment for international crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction cannot possibly be made with a solid legal basis in wartime.
The court has not been able to carry out any investigations on the ground in Gaza and will not be able to do so for perhaps many months. That means any such move would be politically motivated, intended to undermine Israel’s ability to defend its citizens from terrorist violence.
Given the high stakes in the region, and the direct involvement of the U.S. in the conflict, it is inconceivable that ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan would issue indictments without the approval and maybe even the active encouragement of the White House.
"We've been really clear about the ICC investigation, that we don't support it, we don't believe that they have the jurisdiction," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a briefing.
With the presidential election approaching and a desire to gain votes from both supporters and opponents of Israel, Biden has been trying for months to restrain Jerusalem’s legitimate self-defense while at the same time backing its war effort. That amounts to disgraceful duplicity at a time when America’s closest ally in the Middle East needs full-throated support.
Members of Biden’s administration and his political allies have also shown extraordinary hostility to the democratically-elected prime minister of one of America’s closest allies, going back well before this war began. What better way now of heaping pressure on Israel and trying to drag down its prime minister than having the ICC-level charges at Netanyahu directly as well as his defense minister and military chief of staff?
Just the threat of such a highly dangerous move also opens up other duplicitous opportunities for Biden to coerce Israel.
He can perhaps agree to call off the ICC dogs in exchange for concessions from Jerusalem, such as holding back from Rafah, some kind of prolonged ceasefire or undertakings over the looming battle against Hezbollah in south Lebanon.
If the ICC does go ahead with its planned indictments it will be playing right into the hands of Iran and Hamas. In fact this kangaroo court would be doing their dirty work under the cynical guise of what it laughably calls “justice”. Many believe that Hamas’ invasion on October 7 was intended by Tehran to derail normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia which at the time seemed imminent.
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