TEHRAN- Arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former war minister Yoav Gallant have shaken the regime and some of its Western allies, particularly the United States, to the core.  

The ICC, which is made up of 124 countries, including all 27 members of the European Union, issued the warrants last Thursday. 

The world’s highest criminal court has charged Netanyahu and Gallant with committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the Israeli army’s genocidal war in the Palestinian territory.

The ICC’s ruling has been widely welcomed across the globe. 

On Tuesday, the EU foreign policy chief once again reiterated that the bloc must respect the ruling whether member states “like it or not”.

“This is not something you can pick and choose,” Josep Borrell said. 

The European Union’s top diplomat drew a comparison between an arrest warrant issued by the ICC for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023 and the one issued for Netanyahu. 

Putin has been accused of committing crimes during Russia’s war with Ukraine. 

 “You cannot applaud when the court goes against Putin and remain silent when the court goes against Netanyahu,” Borrell said. 

He added, “I ask members of the European Union to fulfill their obligations under international law. If the Europeans don’t support the ICC, then there will not be any hope for justice.”

Borrell made the comments on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting in Italy, which is one of the first signatories of the ICC.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani acknowledged his country’s obligations. Italy hosted the 1998 Rome conference that gave birth to the ICC.  

Many other countries in Europe and beyond have vowed to comply with the ICC’s arrest warrants. 

Josep Borrell called on the EU to respect the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu and stop the pick-and-choose approach to justice. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said he will invite Netanyahu to visit his country in defiance of the ICC’s ruling. 

Since launching war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, Israel has massacred more than 44,000 Palestinians, including over 17,000 children in the enclave. 

The regime is also accused of deliberately starving Palestinians by obstructing the delivery of essentials such as food. 

Multiple human ights organizations and aid groups have warned that Israel has used starvation as a weapon of war.

On October 9 last year, Gallant announced to the world a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip that would allow no food, water, electricity or fuel to 2.3 million Gaza residents.  

His comments show Israel has done what the ICC has deplored in its statement following the issuance of the arrest warrants. 

The ICC’s judges said there were "reasonable grounds" to conclude that the two Israeli officials “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival”.

Netanyahu has denounced the court’s announcement and called it antisemitic. 

President Joe Biden has also described the warrants as “outrageous”, despite the massacres that Israel has perpetrated in Gaza under Netanyahu’s leadership. 

When the ICC issued the arrest warrant for Putin, Biden called on the international community to comply with the ruling.

American politicians regardless of their affiliation with the Democratic or Republican parties have adopted such hypocritical approaches. 

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham described the ICC arrest warrant for Putin “a giant step in the right direction for the international community.” But when the ICC issued the arrest warrants for Israeli criminals, he called the court a “rogue and politically motivated organization”. He also threatened to impose sanctions on any US ally that enforces the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.

Senator Tom Cotton took a step further and suggested that the United States invade the Netherlands to protect Israeli officials from the ICC’s arrest warrants.  

The United States perceives itself as the leading democracy in the world.

At least the reaction of American politicians to the ICC arrest warrants for the Israeli officials has seriously challenged this narrative and exposed the US hypocrisy more than ever. 

The responsibility now lies with the EU, and it remains to be seen if their declarations regarding adherence to the ICC's arrest warrant for Netanyahu will materialize.