The arrest warrants issued on Wednesday, November 21, by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant mark a historic turning point. For the first time since the creation of the Court in 1998, political leaders have been indicted against the wishes of their Western allies.
The requisitions originated from British prosecutor Karim Khan, who is now under attack from all sides. He has opened a breach that judges have now seized on. By issuing these arrest warrants, the judges should contribute to strengthening the ICC’s credibility by refuting de facto accusations of a two-tier justice system. Even if their decision will not stop the wars in progress, judges and prosecutors became committed to the mandate of a Court established to fight impunity for perpetrators of crimes “that deeply shock the conscience of humanity,” as outlined in its statute.
For a long time, the ICC only prosecuted African leaders, facing criticism for promoting Western “regime change” policies on the continent. With the indictment of Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2023, the ICC dared to prosecute the head of a permanent member of the UN Security Council. This move was met with great satisfaction from the West, particularly the United States.
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Never before has the ICC enjoyed such political, financial and judicial support. However, Putin’s indictment also reinforced perceptions of a double standard. Reed Brody, a renowned American lawyer and defender of rights, pointed out that until warrants were issued for Israel officials, international justice was used “almost exclusively to deal with crimes committed by defeated enemies, as in the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals, powerless pariahs, especially Africans, or adversaries of the West like Vladimir Putin or Slobodan Milosevic.”
In its 22 years of existence, the ICC has rarely opposed Western interests. Investigations into alleged US military crimes in Afghanistan and secret CIA prisons in Europe were eventually suspended in 2021, as were those targeting British troops in Iraq for alleged torture. This time, the prosecutor’s investigations into the war in Gaza have advanced to the stage of issuing arrest warrants.
Needed cooperation
From now on, Netanyahu and Gallant will have to think before traveling. This is the situation all “fugitives” wanted by the ICC have to face. However, this scrutiny is now also being extended to several judges and the prosecutor as the Russian judiciary issued warrants against them shortly after Putin’s indictment.
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