Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win
Central to parsing this development is understanding that the ICC is not a consensual arbiter of international law. It is operated as a club of 124 states that does not include some major pillars of the world order, including the United States, India, China, Russia, Turkey and Israel itself. Only established in 2002, the court’s exact role in the landscape of international intervention remains ill-defined. In more than two decades, it has only issued 46 warrants, 21 of which led to arrests, with only a handful of successful prosecutions.
Within that select club, Netanyahu in particular stands out. The ICC has never before indicted the leader of a democratic country. As the first, Netanyahu would join the likes of Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC issued a warrant in 2023, on a select list of autocratic world leaders to be targeted by the court.
Putin has not been arrested; it is highly unlikely that Netanyahu will be, either. That knowledge makes prosecutor Karim Khan’s announcement that he would seek arrests of Netanyahu and Gallant alongside three Hamas leaders, including Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, look in a certain sense like a bit of a political circus.
To those who already doubt the ICC’s jurisdiction here — let alone its efficacy — Khan’s breaking of norms risks suggesting that he is trying to pressure judges to agree to his demand. No matter what their next move is, to many skeptical observers, the court will have already lost any claim to credibility.
That’s especially true because the court has in the past avoided indicting Islamic fundamentalist terrorists from the Middle East. The fact that Hamas leaders are included in Khan’s call will help, but it will be easy for doubters to say that Israel is being held to a double standard: After all, the Islamic State, Hezbollah and al-Qaida have all somehow escaped scrutiny, and while the court is believed to have investigated the Taliban for decades, no indictment has materialized.
forward.com
Within that select club, Netanyahu in particular stands out. The ICC has never before indicted the leader of a democratic country. As the first, Netanyahu would join the likes of Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC issued a warrant in 2023, on a select list of autocratic world leaders to be targeted by the court.
Putin has not been arrested; it is highly unlikely that Netanyahu will be, either. That knowledge makes prosecutor Karim Khan’s announcement that he would seek arrests of Netanyahu and Gallant alongside three Hamas leaders, including Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, look in a certain sense like a bit of a political circus.
To those who already doubt the ICC’s jurisdiction here — let alone its efficacy — Khan’s breaking of norms risks suggesting that he is trying to pressure judges to agree to his demand. No matter what their next move is, to many skeptical observers, the court will have already lost any claim to credibility.
That’s especially true because the court has in the past avoided indicting Islamic fundamentalist terrorists from the Middle East. The fact that Hamas leaders are included in Khan’s call will help, but it will be easy for doubters to say that Israel is being held to a double standard: After all, the Islamic State, Hezbollah and al-Qaida have all somehow escaped scrutiny, and while the court is believed to have investigated the Taliban for decades, no indictment has materialized.
Trying to arrest Netanyahu could actually make him more powerful
An ICC prosecutor is seeking Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest — but the move could backfire, with serious implications.
forward.com
