Experts agreed that there is pressure from America and Israel on the International Criminal Court regarding the request to expedite the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant, noting that Tel Aviv is trying to avoid accountability and accuses the court of anti-Semitism.
UN expert Dr. Abdul Hamid Siam said that there are three female judges who are authorized to issue arrest warrants at the court, warning that they could be subjected to pressure from their governments. He also pointed out that America’s threat to the court had previously disrupted a procedure against Israel’s crimes in 2014 that was initiated by the court’s former president, Fatou Bensouda.
Writer and researcher in international affairs, Hossam Shaker, agreed with Siam’s opinion, pointing out that Israel’s annoyance with the memoranda and its response by accusing the court of anti-Semitism and intimidating international justice is an ongoing Israeli behavior, explaining that it is trying to repel the accusations with propaganda and not with behavior that reinforces its innocence.
Shaker stressed that Israel’s behavior proves that it has something to fear before international justice, the International Criminal Court, and international law, but it remains determined to continue its criminal approach and is not prepared to back down from it.
According to Sayam, the rush to issue arrest warrants before the UN General Assembly session and Netanyahu’s speech therein carries moral weight – if the warrants are issued – indicating that he is not sure of that due to the long history between the International Criminal Court and Israel in this regard, which does not indicate that the court is enthusiastic about intervening in resolving the Palestinian issue.
Netanyahu’s fear
The UN expert attributed the Netanyahu government’s disregard for legal advice to form an internal investigation committee to examine the indictment issued by the court against Israel to Netanyahu’s fear that this would be considered an acceptance of being personally investigated, noting that he is still counting on America to prevent the issuance of arrest warrants against him or any of his government officials.
Siam criticized the arrest warrants issued by the court, describing them as “unbalanced,” and asked why a warrant was not issued against the Israeli Chief of Staff, who is committing murder on the Gaza frontiers, and why only two warrants were issued to arrest Netanyahu and Galant. He also questioned the reasonableness of issuing an arrest warrant against the martyr, head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, who confirmed that he did not participate in the military decision and was outside Gaza.
He pointed out that the International Court of Justice is considered more independent than the Criminal Court in terms of the geographical distribution of the countries to which the 15 judges belong, explaining that they issue a “legal opinion” that is supposed to be binding, but it is not implemented because the court does not have the power to implement this legal opinion.
In contrast, he explained that the situation in the International Criminal Court is different, because it issues punitive measures and arrest warrants that are implemented in cooperation with the member states of the court.
Shaker noted that Israel suffers from deep existential concerns “of exiting history,” and this could begin with international criminal prosecution, despite what he described as the “fake immunity” provided by the occupation’s Western allies to evade its crimes.
moral pressure
Despite the court’s serious claims to issue the warrants, Shaker expressed concern about the court’s slow performance and the weakness of what it has issued so far regarding the issue of genocide in Gaza.
The writer and researcher pointed out the great pressures exerted by Israel and America on the directions of the International Criminal Court, but he explained that this is met with “moral pressure” that makes the court face the question about its role if it does not carry out its duty in condemning the largest visible genocide that occurred in the history of the world in Gaza.
Regarding the expected timing of issuing the warrants, Shaker said that this could happen at any moment, but he warned that issuing the warrants does not mean that they will be implemented if we take into account that some of the accused sometimes enjoy immunity.
The writer and researcher in international affairs pointed out that America has a position against the establishment of the International Criminal Court, and has tried to pressure the countries that signed the Rome Statute, for fear of being prosecuted for crimes committed by the American army in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Palestine, Mike Lynk, confirmed yesterday, Tuesday, that the request of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, to issue urgent arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant is due to the ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed inside the Gaza Strip, and he described this “urgency” by the Prosecutor as a very important development.
