Over a year after the start of its disastrous war in Gaza, the arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prompted a reckoning on Friday for the U.S. ally’s international standing.
A diplomatic boundary between those that claimed to support the International Criminal Court and those that vowed to oppose it was drawn by the warrants also issued for former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.
Given that he led his nation’s attack on the Palestinian enclave and is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Netanyahui is unlikely to be placed in handcuffs anytime soon as long as he stays away from Ireland and the Netherlands, both of which have stated that they would arrest him if he went there.
On the other hand, Hungary pledged not to detain the Israeli leader. In a letter denouncing the decision, its strongman leader Viktor Orb invited Netanyahu for an official visit, promising to protect your rights and safety.
According to the Israeli leader, Hungary had demonstrated moral clarity and steadfastness on the side of justice and the truth, much like our allies in the United States. He compared this to what he saw as the disgraceful weakness of those who supported the absurd choice.
The White House stated on Thursday that the prosecutor’s hasty request for arrest warrants and the concerning procedural mistakes that resulted in this decision significantly troubled President Joe Biden’s administration.
The ICC is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, and has no police to carry out its warrants; neither Israel nor the United States acknowledge its jurisdiction.
No matter the accused’s rank, signatories to the Rome legislation that established the ICC are required to execute arrest warrants. The international legal norm that heads of state are immune from other courts is also adhered to by the majority of states.
Israeli officials rejected the accusations as untrue and antisemitic, but the court stated in its statement that there was reason to suspect that Netanyahu and Gallant exploited famine as a strategy of warfare by limiting humanitarian aid and purposefully targeting people in Israel’s battle in Gaza.
Following growing worldwide condemnation of the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian enclave, the arrest warrants were announced the same day local officials said that the dead toll in the enclave had surpassed 44,000. In recent months, health groups have decided that hundreds of thousands of children need to be vaccinated against polio, while the World Health Organization has warned that hunger is approaching in northern Gaza.
Israel started its assault after the terror incident on October 7, 2023, which marked a significant escalation in the long-running conflict and left Israeli officials estimating that 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken captive.
Mohammed Deif was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including being the architect of Oct. 7.
Several European nations, including several Israeli friends, have not stated if they would detain Netanyahu if he came.
A representative for Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that Britain supports the ICC’s independence, but she did not specify whether or not Britain would detain Netanyahu.
A spokesman for France’s foreign ministry did not specifically clarify Paris’s answer, but the country reiterated its commitment to the court’s independence and stressed that it will comply with the court’s statutes.
The German government promised to “carefully examine” the next steps, mentioning both its ties with Israel and its involvement in writing the ICC statutes.
Others were likewise ambivalent, such as Sweden and Norway.
Some seemed divided, with senior officials denouncing the arrest warrants and the governments of Austria and the Czech Republic vowing to honor their commitments to the ICC.
On X late Thursday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala referred to the ICC ruling as regrettable, stating that it weakens its legitimacy in other situations by equating the leaders of an Islamist terrorist group with the elected officials of a democratic state. Alexander Schallenberg, the foreign minister of Austria, called the issuance of the warrants “ludicrous.”
South Africa, which has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, was among the Middle Eastern nations who praised and supported the court. The United States and Israel refute the accusations.
In remarks released on Sunday that were among his most direct criticisms of Israel’s actions to date, Pope Francis recommended that the international community investigate if Israel’s military operation in Gaza amounts to a genocide against the Palestinian people.
In addition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been the target of an ICC arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine since last year, Netanyahu and the other two Israelis are also facing arrest orders.
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