ICC Battle — US Fighting for ‘Israel’ on Different Front

The U.S. did not stop at supporting the Israeli Occupation in its aggression against Gaza militarily and diplomatically; they, also, worked to obstruct the International Criminal Court's pursuit of Zionist war criminals, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Threats did not just come from statements by the Joe Biden administration; they were followed by concrete actions from Congress members who officially threatened International Criminal Court judges and their families.

In a manner reminiscent of Zionist gangsters, they warned them, alleging that prosecuting Zionist killers would threaten America's sovereignty. This evokes memories of American thuggery protecting the occupier, militarily, politically, economically, and internationally, using the "veto."

According to Global Affair on February 24, 2024, the U.S. has used the "veto" in the UN Security Council 89 times, nearly half of which were in favor of “Israel.” The latest was in February 2024 against an Algerian resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

There's panic in Tel Aviv over arrest warrants against top political and security figures in “Israel” due to the crimes committed in Gaza since the start of the aggression in October 2023. They are desperately trying to prevent it.

The Story of Thuggery

On May 6, 2024, Zeteo exposed American thuggery against International Criminal Court judges. They revealed details of a petition by Congress members threatening to prevent them from issuing any decisions against Israeli Occupation’s genocide in Gaza and its war crimes, in one of the strangest forms of American thuggery to protect war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu.

Zeteo revealed that 12 members of Congress from the Republican Party threatened, in an official letter to the ICC chief prosecutor, serious consequences for him, his family, and his staff if he issued an arrest warrant for war criminal Netanyahu.

The letter, signed by extremist members of the Christian Zionist movement, including Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz, was addressed to ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan.

The letter claimed that if Khan issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, this situation would be interpreted not only as a threat to Israel's sovereignty, but also to U.S. sovereignty and would lead to severe sanctions.

“Target Israel and we will target you,” reads a letter from Republicans in Congress addressed to prosecutor Karim Khan at the ICC.

“If you move forward with the measures indicated in the report, we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States.”

What is strange here is: how did Congress members and the U.S. administration know that the International Criminal Court was considering issuing arrest warrants against Zionist war criminals, prompting them to stir up all this commotion before anything happened?! Does this mean that America is spying on the court's judges?

However, the major scandal is the revelation of the amount received by each senator from the Zionist lobby to threaten the International Criminal Court.

The Zionist lobby paid around 7 million dollars to these American lawmakers to bully the International Criminal Court, according to reports and international figures.

At least three Democratic legislators have also called on President Joe Biden to intervene if the court moves against Israeli leaders.

The matter did not stop at mere threats. Axios revealed on May 8 that Republican lawmakers are already drafting legislation to impose sanctions on officials of the International Criminal Court as a precautionary measure in case arrest warrants are issued against Israeli officials.

It clarified that the legislation being prepared by Republicans in the House aims to impose sanctions on officials of the International Criminal Court if they issue potential arrest warrants for Israeli officials.

Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Michael McCaul, confirmed to Axios that this is the second bill against International Criminal Court judges following Senator Tom Cotton's legislation introduced in February 2024.

The earlier legislation aimed “ to sanction ICC officials involved in probes of U.S. allies who are not ICC members, such as Israel.”

Prior to the threats and congressional legislation that would punish court judges if they issued arrest warrants for Zionist war criminals, a group of senators from both parties held a meeting with officials from the International Criminal Court.

During the meeting, they expressed their concerns about potential arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, as reported by Axios.

Due to this serious development and unprecedented threats, a statement was issued by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court revealing the court's exposure to pressure and threats, necessitating international action to provide support and protection for the court's judges and staff, but no action has been taken.

Who Holds America Accountable?

Legal experts in international law say that the public threats from the American administration and Congress against the International Criminal Court constitute a crime under Article 70 (1) (d & h) of the Rome Statute.

Dr. Al-Said Mustafa Ahmad Abu al-Kheir, an Egyptian international law professor, explained to Al-Estiklal that paragraph (d) of Article 70 criminalizes hindering or intimidating a Court official or exerting undue influence on them to compel them not to perform their duties, to perform them improperly, or to convince them to do so.

Paragraph (h) of Article 70 criminalizes retaliation against a Court official for the duties performed by that official or another official.

In response, Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American congresswoman, called on the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials for accountability for genocide.

She also urged Joe Biden to end all U.S. military funding to the Israeli apartheid regime.

Additionally, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, rejected "any threat to the International Criminal Court" and stated that the International Criminal Court must act swiftly after Israel began its ground assault on Rafah and committed new crimes.

Similarly, Netanyahu stated on social media that any intervention by the International Criminal Court would set a dangerous precedent threatening soldiers and officials in all democracies fighting brutal terrorism and rampant aggression.

He declared on X that under his leadership, “Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense. While the ICC will not affect Israel's actions, it would set a dangerous precedent.”

Israeli media outlets, including Maariv newspaper, reported on May 3, 2024, that Netanyahu is deeply concerned about the possibility of the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant against him due to the military operation in the Gaza Strip.

Analyst Ben Caspit wrote on May 4, 2024, that Netanyahu is under extraordinary pressure regarding the possibility of an arrest warrant being issued against him and other Israeli officials by the court in The Hague, which would represent a significant deterioration in Israel's international standing.

Sources close to him believe that arrest warrants are only a matter of time and will be issued against him, Minister of War Yoav Gallant, and Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi.

Analyst Amos Harel wrote in Haaretz that the Israeli government is assuming that the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, will issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Defense of War Yoav Gallant, and Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, and that this assumption is driving efforts to thwart the court's plans to issue these arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials, led by the National Security Council of the Israeli Occupation.

Walla reported that Netanyahu is conducting a "marathon" of phone calls in an attempt to pressure anyone connected to this issue, with a focus on the important role of U.S. President Joe Biden in dissuading the court from taking its expected step.

Can Netanyahu be Arrested? 

Many observers believe that the International Criminal Court has the right to determine the legality of the behavior of both “Israel” and Hamas in the war.

However, former President of the Court, Chile Eboe-Osuji, said in an interview with Foreign Policy magazine on May 7, 2024, that this opinion is incorrect.

He explained that trials by the International Criminal Court are limited to holding individuals accountable and will not condemn “Israel” or its citizens.

According to Eboe-Osuji, the International Criminal Court can try Israeli officials for complicity in the crimes committed by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian territories.

He clarified that Israeli membership in the Court does not hinder the issuance of arrest warrants against Netanyahu or his war ministers, as the same legal principle was used in the case of Russia, which is not a member of the Court.

In 2022, a group of 39 countries, including France, Germany, and the UK, called on the ICC to investigate the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This led to the ICC issuing an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2020 for committing war crimes on Ukrainian territory.

In 2023, Putin canceled his plans to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in light of Pretoria's clear commitment to his arrest, as announced, even though it had previously refused to arrest former President Omar al-Bashir when he visited.

It would be contradictory, therefore, for any of these countries to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Russian citizens and not accept it over Israeli citizens, said the former President of the Court.

After reports emerged about the possibility of the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his war ministers, questions were raised about the judgments that the court could make.

Abu al-Kheir, the Egyptian international law professor, explained to Al-Estiklal that the International Criminal Court prosecutes individuals for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, charges leveled against Netanyahu and leaders of the aggression.

However, he pointed out that one of the drawbacks of the court is that it does not have its own law enforcement agencies; it relies on states to arrest and surrender suspects, and arrest warrants remain in effect for life unless the court decides otherwise.

The court has previously issued judgments such as the arrest of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for investigation into crimes of genocide in Darfur, but several countries refused to execute this order.

Therefore, if arrest warrants were issued for Netanyahu and others, Israeli authorities would not obliged to enforce them because the Israeli Occupation is not a member of the International Criminal Court and is not a signatory to the Rome Statute; only member states of the court are obligated to execute the warrants.

However, Netanyahu and other Israeli officials against whom the court may issue arrest warrants would face travel restrictions to member states of the International Criminal Court that are signatories to the Rome Statute, especially if they have the intention to arrest them.

Arrest warrants and indictments do not imply guilt for the accused, as an investigation must first be conducted within the International Criminal Court, and then the three judges, by majority, decide whether the evidence presented by the prosecutor against the accused meets the required standards of proof for conviction or not.

Ultimately, based on previous experiences of the International Criminal Court, conviction does not necessarily mean immediate arrest and trial.

Former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has not been arrested or tried to date, despite an arrest warrant issued against him in 2009.

For a long time, before his ousting, al-Bashir traveled to friendly countries that did not arrest him, citing the customary international law immunity granted to heads of states.

However, in 2019, the Chamber of Appeals of the International Criminal Court clearly stated that there is no such immunity regarding matters brought before international courts, especially the International Criminal Court.

This means that Israeli officials have no immunity from any arrest warrants issued by the court, and member states of the court are legally obligated to arrest Israelis if they travel to any of those states.

Five countries and three Palestinian non-governmental organizations have submitted requests to the International Criminal Court for an investigation into the ongoing situation in Palestinian territories, especially in the Gaza Strip.

However, even if they were arrested, they would be subject to investigation by the court, which could acquit, fine, or imprison them for 30 years or life in its prisons in The Hague or in countries designated by the court.

Double Standards 

What's strange in the current crisis is that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, has shown clear double standards in dealing with the situation in Palestine, especially when compared to the situation in Ukraine, according to a report by Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

The Prosecutor visited the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on October 29, 2023, raising hopes that he would order the trial of Israeli leaders, but he equated Hamas' attacks on Israeli settlements and Israeli destruction of Gaza.

This is despite him witnessing thousands of trucks carrying food, medical supplies, water, and fuel being prevented from entering Gaza following decisions by Israeli Minister of War Yoav Gallant when he ordered a complete blockade on Gaza: "no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed."

During his visit to Egypt on October 29, 2023, the Prosecutor did not meet with Palestinian victims displaced from Gaza.

When Khan finally decided to speak with Palestinian victims on December 2, 2023, he allocated only 10 minutes to listen to the stories of dozens of Palestinians, including a woman who lost 30 members of her family killed by Israeli shelling in Gaza, according to a member of the Defense Team of Gaza war victims.

In contrast, the Prosecutor visited the areas in “Israel” that were hit by Hamas attacks, spending a long time listening to the Israeli Occupation's lies about "Hamas crimes" which remained an issue in Palestine.

The destruction of Gaza was raised in the court with each Israeli assault and several requests were made in different years without moving the case against Israeli officials.

Following Palestine's attainment of "Observer State" status in the United Nations, Palestine joined the International Criminal Court in 2015, becoming the 123rd member of the court established in 2002.

In 2021, the court approved the opening of a preliminary investigation into Israeli war crimes in Palestinian territories, after announcing that Palestine is a state under the Rome Statute of the Court.

The International Criminal Court was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves.

Unlike the International Court of Justice, which is also based in The Hague and adjudicates the responsibility of states, the International Criminal Court does not bring charges against a state or people.

The court can only pursue prosecutions for crimes committed by citizens of member states or committed by other parties on the territories of member states, which number 124 countries.