The International Criminal Court responded to Israel’s questioning of the impartiality of Judge Betty Holler, who was newly appointed to the Pre-Trial Chamber examining the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
This came in a statement published by the court on Wednesday evening, which included Holler’s answers about her previous work in the public prosecution, hours before the International Criminal Court on Thursday issued two arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Last October 25, the court announced the appointment of Slovenian Holer to replace Romanian judge Giulia Mutuc, who heads the preliminary chamber and is reviewing the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, for “medical reasons” that were not disclosed.
Questioning the new judge, the Israeli Attorney General’s Office claimed that Holer worked in the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court before her appointment as a judge, and this “could harm her impartiality.”
In her official response published by the court, Holler indicated that she did not participate directly or indirectly in the investigation of the Palestine issue during her work in the Office of the Public Prosecutor, and that she did not work with the employees involved in the investigation.
She stated that she had not seen, in any way, the documents of the investigation against the Israeli officials, its plans, documents, evidence, or secret files, and she confirmed that this information and documents had not been presented to her in any way.
She explained that she did not work in a position that gave her access to all investigations at the International Criminal Court, stressing that the cases in which she was consulted or in which she provided opinions during her work in the Prosecution Office did not include the investigation related to Palestine.
Holer stated that she believes that a judge who is suspected of impartiality for reasonable reasons should resign, stressing that she is aware of the qualities that her position requires, calling on the Israeli Attorney General’s Office to present what it has on this matter to the court.
On May 20, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, requested the issuance of two arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. For their responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli army in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Arrest orders
Today, Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued two arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and said that there are “logical reasons” to believe that they committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
She explained that the war crimes attributed to Netanyahu and Gallant include the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and also include crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
The court stressed that Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction is unnecessary, and also considered that revealing these arrest orders is in the interest of the victims, while Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders condemned the court’s decision today, describing it as “shameful and anti-Semitic.”
In addition to Netanyahu and Gallant, the International Criminal Court also issued an arrest warrant against the commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas), Muhammad al-Deif.
This comes in light of the continuation of the Israeli war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving about 148,000 Palestinians martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and worsening famine looming over the besieged Strip.
Israel continues its massacres, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to end them immediately, and the orders of the International Court of Justice to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.