Benyamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the Chief of Staff, prosecuted by the International Criminal Court. Fiction or reality? If nothing has been confirmed yet, this is a scenario that the Israeli Prime Minister has feared for several days. In a message posted on the social network
According to Israeli media, ICC Prosecutor General Karim Khan could issue arrest warrants in the coming days. Benyamin Netanyahu says he takes seriously the possibility of the institution opening proceedings against him and other senior Israeli officials. “Even if the ICC will not affect Israel’s actions,” he writes, “it will set a dangerous precedent that will threaten the soldiers and leaders of all democracies fighting against savage terrorism and wanton aggression.”
“An imminent event”?
Israeli officials have not given details on their reasons for believing in such ICC prosecutions. Officially, the body did not respond to requests from journalists either. However, according to a testimony under cover of anonymity collected by our colleagues from World, the event would be “imminent”. Several Israeli leaders have also affirmed New York Timeson condition of anonymity, fear that the Israeli Prime Minister himself will be placed under arrest warrant.
The Israeli press also puts forward the names of the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, and the Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi. Benjamin Netanyahu could therefore find himself in the same situation, for example, as Vladimir Putin, under an international arrest warrant since March 2023, underlines the daily Le Figaro.
Any ICC warrant would nevertheless require the approval of a panel of judges and would not necessarily result in a trial, or even the immediate arrest of targets. Furthermore, Israel is not one of the 124 member countries of the International Criminal Court and does not recognize its jurisdiction. Nevertheless, the institution ruled in 2015 that it had jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories, that is, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. This is why it can legitimately investigate and possibly punish Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Legal remedies
Concretely, the ICC can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression. This is not the first time that Israeli officials have been targeted by the ICC.
In March 2021, the prosecutor’s office had already opened an investigation into crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories since 2014. This procedure would target all violations of international law perpetrated, since 2014, by Israel in the West Bank and in the Strip. Gaza, including those underway in the offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave, which has left nearly 35,000 dead, according to the Islamist organization. Another institution, the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ), which deals with conflicts between States, for its part examined at the beginning of the year a request for “genocide” filed by theSouth Africa vs Israel.
Regarding this possible prosecution of the ICC, Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to mobilize his allies, including the United States, so that they plead in his favor. The White House has also declared that it is “not in favor” of a criminal investigation against Israeli officials.
Benjamin Netanyahu also raised the issue with David Cameron and Annalena Baerbock, heads of British and German diplomacy respectively, asking for their support. While internally it multiplies, according to Le Figaroconsultations with experts in international law, such as Israel Katz, the head of Israeli diplomacy, and Ron Dermer, the Minister of Strategic Affairs and his closest collaborator, to try to find legal solutions.