TEHRAN- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been like a cat on hot bricks since he found himself in the crosshairs of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his sacked war minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday over committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the Israeli army’s genocidal war in the Palestinian territory.
Judges at the ICC stated that there were "reasonable grounds" to conclude that Netanyahu and Gallant “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival”.

Impact of Arrest Warrants 

The Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court, includes 124 state parties across the world. Countries that are members of the ICC are legally obligated to execute its arrest warrants as stipulated by the statute.

The ICC has the authority to prosecute individuals charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes on the territory of states party to the Rome Statute. 

Hence, if either of the two Israeli officials set foot in any ICC member state they must be arrested and handed over to the court.

Multiple countries have said that they will comply with the ICC’s rules. It is yet to be determined whether the court's members, which include Israel's close European allies, will effectively implement the arrest warrants.

The issuance of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant represents the inaugural instance in which the ICC has brought charges against leaders from a Western ally.EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has described the ICC decision as binding on all EU member states.

Britain, a key Western ally of Israel and an ICC member, however, has evaded questions regarding the enforcement of the ICC’s arrest warrants. 

Israel’s main Western ally, the United States, which is not an ICC member, has rejected the court’s decision. President Joe Biden described the warrants as “outrageous”.

Dubious diplomacy 

Biden’s reaction to the ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant has highlighted the double standards of the White House. 

The US had previously welcomed ICC war crimes warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials.

In 2020, then-US president Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the ICC, aimed at court officials and their families. The then secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said at that time that the punitive measures were imposed because the court had begun investigating the actions of the US and its allies in Afghanistan, as well as Israeli military operations in the occupied territories.

Since its creation more than two decades ago, the ICC has issued arrest warrants for leaders of several countries. 

History of ICC arrest warrants 

The court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023 over alleged crimes committed during Russia’s war with Ukraine. 

Since then, the Russian president has made several international trips, including to China, which is not a member of the court. 

He also visited Mongolia, an ICC member, in September and was warmly welcomed. 

Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the deposed president of Sudan, is also on a list of sitting leaders charged by the ICC. The court issued warrants for him in 2009 and 2010.  Al-Bashir, who was deposed in 2019 after three decades in power, had been accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the western region of Darfur.

Al-Bashir traveled to an African Union summit in South Africa in 2015 but was not arrested.

Libya’s former leader, Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi, Kenya’s former deputy president, William Ruto, and the former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo were also among those targeted by the ICC. 

Israeli atrocities 

But the case of Israel is completely different. Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In late January this year, the ICJ ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza.  However, Israel turned a blind eye to the ruling and continued its deadly strikes in the Gaza Strip. 

The Israeli army has slaughtered more than 44,000 Palestinians in Gaza since launching war on the enclave on October 7, 2023. Most of the victims are women and children. 

Global anger at Israel’s atrocities in Gaza has also been growing.

Protests across the world over Israel’s brutalities in Gaza which later expanded into Lebanon have become a regular occurrence. 

Earlier this month, more than 500 scholars and practitioners of international law, international relations, conflict studies, politics and genocide studies called on the United Nations General Assembly and its member states to unseat Israel from the world body.  

In a joint letter, they outlined a comprehensive array of violations committed by Israel over the past decades. 

It pointed to the consistent breach of resolutions issued by the Security Council and the General Assembly as well as ICJ rulings. The signatories said the UN General Assembly should fire Israel as it expelled apartheid South Africa in 1974.

In October, more than 1,100 authors also launched “a mass boycott of Israeli publishers complicit in the dispossession of the Palestinian people.”

A coalition of solidarity groups said in a press statement that the declaration was the biggest cultural boycott against Israeli institutions in history.

“Signatories have stated that they cannot in good conscience engage with Israeli institutions without interrogating their relationship to apartheid and displacement,” it said. 

For now, the ICC arrest warrants have thrown a spotlight on the Israeli apartheid regime’s international isolation amid its heinous crimes in Gaza and Lebanon. In addition to its genocidal war on Gaza, the Israeli army has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon since October last year. 

The court’s move could lead to international pressure on Israel to end its savage war in Gaza. It could also give rise to domestic protests against Israel’s military failures in Gaza and Lebanon. The Israeli army has massacred civilians in Gaza and Lebanon but its forces have failed to bring resistance fighters to their knees on the battlefield. 

Fugitive from justice

The ICC arrest warrants against the Israeli premier and former war minister, who are now fugitive criminals, extend beyond these implications.  Israel is the first ally of the West that has been charged by the court. 

The issuance of arrest warrants has dispelled Israel's perception of itself as a purported democratic state.

The entire world has also woken up to the fact that Israel is an apartheid and bogus regime whose survival hangs in the balance. 

Hamas shattered the image of the Israeli army’s myth of invincibility when it carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Strom. It was a military attack that was launched by the Palestinian resistance movement in southern Israel on October 7 last year which led to the genocidal war on Gaza. 

In addition to suffering military setbacks, rulings such as those issued by the ICC have dealt a significant blow to Israel’s global standing and have further deepened its international isolation. 

In other words, Israel has experienced significant setbacks both in military engagements and within the realm of international politics. 

In the wake of the ICC ruling, US-backed allies may fall short of arresting the Israeli premier. But fears of arrest will make the blood of Netanyahu and other Israeli criminals run cold.