Prosecutor Makes a Mockery of the ICC
Requesting arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, he hurts the credibility of the international system for prosecuting war criminals
A Travesty by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute, which is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002. Neither is Qatar or the United States. So the Israeli leaders against whom the ICC prosecutor Karim Ahmed Khahn sought warrants, are beyond his reach, even if those warrants are approved by the court. Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant could still travel to the United States. They would be free to go to Qatar for negotiations. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah, safely ensconced in Doha already, will not face extradition. Haniyah is one of three Hamas leaders (along with Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar and his deputy Mohammed Deif) for whom Kahn also sought warrants.
ICC prosecutor Karim Kahn ——-Photo by Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken - https://www.flickr.com/photos/78392295@N06/51996992028/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=148564887
The Republic of South Africa is a signatory of the ICC treaty. When the former Sudanese president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, went there in 2015, the South African government ignored its obligations under the treaty and did not arrest him. Bashir has had an ICC arrest warrant outstanding against him since 2009. South Africa faced no consequences. This makes the role of South Africa in pursuing trumped up charges of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) particularly egregious. The ICJ And the ICC are separate bodies. Israel accepts the jurisdiction of the ICJ.
There is one party to the conflict against Israel which is a signatory of the ICC treaty. That is the Palestinian Authority (PA) which signed on to the Rome Statute as the government of the aspirational State of Palestine. Interestingly, this means that Sinwar and Deif who are believed to be in Gaza which is recognized by most of the world as part of Palestine, should be subject to extradition if they were to fall into their hands of the PA. We wonder if the PA would would be more diligent than the government of South Africa in fulfilling its obligations under the treaty in the unlikely event that the Hamas leaders were ever in their custody.
Angry Reaction to News from the ICC
The announcement this morning by ICC prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan that he would seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, along with three senior leaders of Hamas, has drawn a swift denunciation from Israel, but also from the United States and some other governments. US President Biden condemned the prosecutor’s action:
“The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous. And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas,” said Biden, in a statement.
The Times of Israel reported on comments by a spokesman for the German foreign ministry:
“The simultaneous application for arrest warrants against the Hamas leaders on the one hand and the two Israeli officials on the other has given the false impression of equivalence,” a spokesman for the German foreign ministry says in a statement.
Hamas perpetrated a “barbaric massacre” with its October 7 massacre in southern Israel communities, the spokesman says.
“Hamas continues to hold Israeli hostages in unspeakable conditions, attacks Israel with rockets, and uses Gaza’s civilian population as human shields,” he adds.
“The Israeli government has the right and duty to protect and defend its people from this,” the spokesman states.
According to Times of Israel, Israeli PM Netanyanu said Monday
… that the “absurd and false” decision is “directed against the entire State of Israel.”
“It is directed against the IDF soldiers, who are fighting with supreme heroism against the vile Hamas murderers,” he said in a video statement.
In spite of the support from allies, the request for arrest warrants will be cited by Israel’s enemies their global cheering section as further proof of Israel’s perfidy.
Another Disturbing Incident of Anti Jewish Bias in Canada
On this holiday Monday in Canada, we have woken to an account of an Israeli woman with a baby being singled out for harassment by a Canadian immigration office when she arrived at Pearson Airport in Toronto. More details of this story will appear in a future article.
The “special treatment” reserved for Israel in the international courts and for random Jews crossing Canada’s borders with an Israeli passport, adds to the growing sense of unease experienced by Canada’s Jews. We are rediscovering the sense of insecurity which was the norm for many of our ancestors.
Unfortunately, history shows that countries where antizionism becomes the policy of the state, have inevitably become places where Jews no longer feel welcome and are no longer safe. This was true in the Arab world just as it was in the Soviet Union and its colonies. As international institutions increasingly express this ideology, Israel is being marginalized. In western Europe, where noisy antizionism has been a growing part of the political and cultural landscape for a couple of decades, Jews have been voting with their feet and moving elsewhere.
The aggressive promotion of antizionism by a noisy and increasingly influential minority in North America is also taking a toll on the Jewish population here. As we have pointed out before, surges in antizionism have the perhaps unintended consequence of increasing the emigration of Jews, many of them to Israel. These outbreaks have had the dual consequence of increasing the number of Jews in Israel and of reminding us just how important the existence of the state is to Jewish security and continuity.
Israel Advances in Rafah Uncovering a Shocking Secret
The news from Rafah seems to vindicate Israel’s decision to push ahead with the gradual invasion of the city. Pictures have emerged of large tunnels running under the Egyptian border. According to the Gilad Noam, who presented Israel’s case at the ICJ this past week, fifty of these enormous cross border tunnels have been uncovered in the small part of Rafah that Israel has so far entered.
This puts Egyptian objections to Israeli entry into the area in a new light. Rather than concern about Palestinian refugees entering Egypt, it seems like they were worried about exposure of Egyptian complicity in Hamas’ military buildup. It now seems likely that while publicly enforcing the military blockade, Egypt was secretly cooperating in the movement of sophisticated weapons into Gaza.
Meanwhile much of the civilian population of Rafah seems to have moved away from the city to safer areas recommended by Israel, which should enable the IDF to complete the destruction of Hamas main military assets in the Gaza strip. Perhaps this will also facilitate the recovery of the remaining hostages and of the bodies of those who have been killed by the enemy.
Although Netanyahu’s position at home seems to be getting shakier, and the world continues to take steps that show little understanding of Israel’s situation, it does seem that the IDF will have the opportunity to complete its mission. If that is the case, then by neutralizing Hamas in Gaza, and freeing the surviving hostages without further concessions, Israel will achieve a meaningful improvement to its security. By eliminating the Hamas regime on its southwestern border, they will put an end to over two decades of violence against Israel from Gaza.
Encouraging Words from the American President
American policy on the war in Gaza has been hard to pin down in recent weeks, and seems to vary according to the audience, and who is speaking. According to Times of Israel, today President Biden made some remarks at an event marking Jewish American Heritage Month. He said the US Administration does not believe Israel is committing genocide. He also endorsed Israel’s goal of getting rid of Hamas, and said that Hamas is responsible for the carnage in Gaza. If only the message from the Biden Administration sounded like this every day:
US President Joe Biden says his administration “stand[s] with Israel to take out Sinwar and the rest of the butchers of Hamas.”
“We want Hamas defeated, and we’re working with Israel to make that happen,” Biden says at a White House event marking Jewish American Heritage Month.
“Contrary to allegations made against Israel in the International Court of Justice, what’s happening is not genocide,” Biden asserts.
He adds that he is working to boost humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza but stresses that the crisis is Hamas’s doing.
Thank you to our new subscribers who have signed up since the publication of our previous article, “What About Whataboutism?”. If you value what we are doing here at Canadian Zionist Forum, why not upgrade to a paid subscription to support our work? If you are a paid subscriber you can leave a comment.
Thank you for reading Canadian Zionist Forum.
Thanks for the kind words from paid subscriber Paula Agulnik.
And, David, you are absolutely right! And the sooner Israel could achieve its objective, the better. Accusing Israel falsely, hinders the objective and, indeed, instead or sparing lives, does nothing but increase the casualties...
Absolutely, charging both Hamas leadership and Netanyahu with the same / similar charges sends a horribly biased message. I get so angry. But you left me with some god news, both for Israel security and for the world stage, that the Israeli advance in Rafah uncovered large tunnels running under the Egyptian border. Let the world consider that for awhile.