Prominent French writer Pascal Boniface said that the request of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, to issue an international warrant to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of committing war crimes in Gaza, established the credibility of this international court.
He added, in an article in the French newspaper La Croix, that the establishment of the International Criminal Court was an essential step to avoid “victors’ justice” and, in return, to establish global justice imposed on everyone without exception.
The writer continued, pointing out that the cases that reached the International Criminal Court were previously limited to names and personalities from outside the Western system, and did not involve any leader of a Western country, or a country closely linked to the West.
Big hurricane
In this context, the announcement of the International Criminal Prosecutor is considered a “big hurricane” and an important advanced step that can enhance the credibility of the international justice system, as Boniface put it.
The French writer adds that with this announcement it has become clear that there is no immunity for the allies of the Western powers, or even for the leaders of the Western countries themselves.
He expressed his hope that the step taken by the International Criminal Prosecutor would push all world leaders to think carefully before making any decisions that would lead them to the halls of this court.
According to Boniface, the ICC decision will not have an immediate impact on either the leaders of Israel or the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), but it is a new page opened in the history of international law and global justice.
4 questions
British writer Gideon Rachman described the ICC Prosecutor’s request to issue an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant as “a crushing blow to Israel and a colossal gamble for the court,” according to the title of his article in the Financial Times a few days ago.
Rachman said that the repercussions of this step will be severe, noting that 4 main questions immediately present themselves.
The first of these questions is about the internal impact of the decision on Israel, the second is the impact of the decision on the war in Gaza and the Middle East in general, and the third is the future of the International Criminal Court, which appears to have “dared” for the first time to approach names associated with the Western system.
The fourth question is related to the United States’ position on the resolution, and whether it will respond to the accusations, and how that response will be made if it is issued.
It is noteworthy that Pascal Boniface is a French thinker specializing in political science and strategic studies. He founded the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS) in 1990, which is considered one of the most prominent think tanks in the world.
But since he criticized some of Israel’s practices, he has been suffering from various types of harassment, most notably the usual accusation of “anti-Semitism.” Among his most prominent books are “Is It Possible to Criticize Israel?” and “An Anti-Semite.”
