Both Israel and the USA call the arrest warrants requested against Israel’s prime minister and defense minister “outrageous.” Netanyahu speaks of an attack on Israel, US President Biden warns against equating it with Hamas.
After the International Criminal Court (ICC) requested arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, both Netanyahu himself and representatives of the US government clearly criticized the move. Netanyahu said the requests were an attack on the Israeli military and all of Israel. Israel will continue the war against the terrorist militia Hamas.
US President Joe Biden called the ICC chief prosecutor’s actions against Israel “outrageous.” Israel and the militant Islamist Hamas should not be treated equally, Biden said. Biden added that Israel will always stand by Israel in the event of threats to the country’s security.
Netanyahu described chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s claims as absurd and accused the prosecution of anti-Semitism. “As Prime Minister of Israel, I reject with disgust the Hague prosecutor’s comparison between democratic Israel and the mass murders of Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “No pressure or decision in any international forum will stop us from meeting those who want to destroy us.”
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz also spoke of a “scandalous decision”. This represents “a frontal, unrestrained attack on the victims of October 7th and our 128 hostages in Gaza.” According to his office, he spoke of a “historic disgrace” that will be remembered forever.
Israeli President Itzchak Herzog also described the request for an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant as “more than outrageous.” Israeli opposition leader Jair Lapid spoke of a “complete moral failure.”
Criticism also from Great Britain
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also criticized the ICC’s actions against Netanyahu as unhelpful. “This measure does not contribute to ending the fighting, freeing hostages or bringing humanitarian aid into the country,” the spokesman said.
Asked whether police would arrest Netanyahu if he came to Britain, he said he would not comment on what he described as “hypothetical.”
“Accountability must be given for actions”
Prosecutor Karim Khan had justified his applications by saying that Netanyahu, Gallant and the three Hamas leaders – Jahia Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, called Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh – were involved in the war in the Middle East that has been going on for more than seven months are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Netanyahu and Gallant are accused, among other things, of being responsible for starving civilians as a method of warfare as well as indiscriminate killings and targeted attacks on civilians.
Regarding Israel’s actions, Khan’s statement said that “the impact of the use of starvation as a method of warfare, along with other attacks and collective punishments against the civilian population in Gaza, is acute, visible and widely known.” These included “malnutrition, dehydration, deep suffering and a growing number of deaths among the Palestinian population, including babies, other children and women.”
The prosecutor accuses the Hamas leaders of, among other things, “extermination” as well as murder, hostage-taking, rape and torture as crimes against humanity. On the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that sparked the war, he said he had seen with his own eyes “the devastating scenes of those attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes cited in the applications filed today.”
Judges now have to decide
The ICC judges must now decide whether the requested international arrest warrants will be issued. The chief prosecutor must apply for the arrest warrants to a three-judge preliminary investigation committee, which takes an average of two months to examine the evidence and decide whether the proceedings can continue.
The court has no ability to execute arrest warrants. However, in the event of an enforcement action, the freedom of movement of those wanted is severely restricted.
A consequence of the arrest warrants would be that all contracting states of the court would be obliged to arrest those wanted and hand them over to the court as soon as they are in their country. Khan’s announcement also deepens Israel’s international isolation. Israel is not a state party to the ICC.
Both Sinwar and Deif are believed to be hiding in the Gaza Strip, where they are wanted by Israel. Haniya, the militant Islamist group’s supreme leader, is in Qatar and travels frequently in the region.
Hamas portrays itself as being treated unfairly
Hamas, for its part, criticized the chief prosecutor’s requests for arrest warrants against its leaders. “His decision compares the victim to an executioner and encourages the (Israeli) occupation to continue the genocidal war,” said a statement carried by the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV channel.
The organization has the right to resist the Israeli occupation and this also includes armed resistance – according to the terrorist militia’s statement.
Sabrina Fritz, ARD Brussels, tagesschau, May 20, 2024 2:47 p.m