The ICC must stop its vendetta against Israel

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s former defense minister Yoav Gallant. An ICC warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, who was killed by Israel in July. The judges decided that there are “reasonable grounds” that the trio are responsible for war crimes.

The ICC must end its vendetta against Israel

The court’s decision marks a new low in international efforts to portray Israel as a uniquely evil country. Placing leaders of a law-abiding democracy alongside murderous terrorists risks equating Hamas’s pursuit of a genocidal aim with Israel’s need to defend itself following the October 7 attack. The warrants demonstrate extreme anti-Israel bias and lack moral clarity.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, wrote on X that the “outrageous” decision was “taken in bad faith” and that “it ignores the fact that Israel is a vibrant democracy, acting under international humanitarian law.” He’s right.

Instead of pursuing Israel, the ICC could focus its efforts on the Iranian government’s violent suppression of women’s rights activists, or the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons during the civil war? Perhaps its focus should be on China’s systemic oppression and imprisonment of Uyghurs or the actions of the Turkish government against the Kurds?

Instead, the ICC is going after Israel. The court says it found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant “each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”

This looks like a decision based on political considerations. The warrants risk undermining the court’s legitimacy, credibility and future pursuit of justice. It is also likely to be counter-productive to ending the war and releasing the Israeli hostages. The decision will encourage Hamas to keep fighting, prolonging the war and the suffering on both sides. It could also be weaponized against Israel to try and stop weapons shipments that are vital for its ability to defend itself.

In practice, the ICC has no enforcement mechanism in Israel, so it will have to rely on the cooperation of member states. This means that, from now on, Netanyahu will be isolated. He will not be able to visit the 124 nations that are parties to the ICC. This includes most European, African and South American countries. Holland and Ireland have already announced that they will respect the ICC’s warrants. The UK’s response was noncommittal. Although the government said in the past that it will respect the court’s decision, today it rejected the moral equivalence between Israel and terror groups, stating that Israel has a right to defend itself. But this is hardly reassuring.

At least in the United States, Israel’s closest and most significant ally, Netanyahu will be protected from the long arm of the ICC, not least when President Trump enters the White House in January.

The court alleges that Israel has intentionally used starvation as a weapon of war and prevented access to vital aid, including medicine, water and gasoline. But what about the fact that vast amounts of food and aid that has been going into Gaza are being regularly looted by Hamas and local armed gangs instead of reaching civilians? The ICC also appears to disregard the fact that the incoming supply of this aid has made it possible for Hamas to keep fighting, including in targeting civilian population.

The court alleged that Israel has been purposely targeting civilians, apparently turning a blind eye to the robust measures employed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that have helped protect civilians, even at the price of undermining military achievements and placing Israel soldiers at increased risk.

This isn’t to say, of course, that there haven’t been unacceptable instances of violence against civilians by IDF soldiers. But those are being investigated and soldiers have been punished or dismissed from service when wrongdoing has been uncovered. 

The ICC must end its vendetta against Israel, a country that is fighting for its very survival — and deserves to be able to defend itself.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.