Israel fears that International Criminal Court judges will issue a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest

Israeli officials increasingly believe the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on charges related to the Gaza conflict, multiple Israeli and foreign officials cited by the New York Times and the Times of Israel said. . The decision would represent a major moral blow and would seriously affect the international status of the country, the Israeli press writes.

Israel is currently making a concerted effort to thwart plans by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials, an Israeli government source told The Times of Israel on Sunday.

The National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are involved in these efforts.

An Israeli official said the centerpiece of the Hague tribunal’s charges would be that Israel “deliberately starved the Palestinians in Gaza.”

In this context, the Times of Israel writes, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman, Nadav Shoshani, gave a rare Shabbat briefing to foreign reporters on Israel’s support for the temporary humanitarian landing off the Strip. Gaza, highlighting the country’s efforts to counter the ICC campaign.

If the court goes ahead with the issuance of the arrest warrants, the New York Times also writes, Israeli officials could be accused of preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and pursuing an overly harsh response after the Hamas attacks.

Netanyahu, “under unusual stress”

On the Walla news site, analyst Ben Caspit pointed out that Netanyahu is under “unusual stress” over potential arrest warrants, which would constitute a major deterioration in Israel’s international standing.

Netanyahu is leading a “round-the-clock campaign” to prevent the issuance of this arrest warrant, particularly focused on the administration of US President Joe Biden, Caspit reported.

Haaretz daily analyst Amos Harel also reported that the Israeli government is working on the assumption that ICC prosecutor Karim Khan could issue arrest warrants this week for Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

Israeli and foreign officials also believe the court is considering arrest warrants for Hamas leaders.

It is not clear who could be charged by Hamas or what crimes would be cited.

Israeli officials did not disclose the nature of the information that led them to be concerned about potential ICC action, and the court did not comment on the matter.

A moral blow

Even if they cannot be effectively enforced, the arrest warrants issued by the court would likely be seen in much of the world as a humiliating moral blow, particularly to Israel, which has for months faced critical international backlash over with his actions in Gaza, including from US President Joe Biden, writes the New York Times.

Israel is not a member of the Hague-based court and does not recognize its jurisdiction, but the Palestinian territories were admitted as a member state in 2015.

Amid the revelations, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that Israel “expects the court to refrain” from issuing arrest warrants.

Netanyahu also said Friday that any ICC decision would not affect Israel’s actions but would set a dangerous precedent.

“Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the International Criminal Court in The Hague to undermine its fundamental right to defend itself,” Netanyahu said.

Gaza’s Health Ministry, run by Hamas, says more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel during the war, but the number cannot be independently verified.

The IDF says it killed more than 13,000 terrorists in Gaza, in addition to the roughly 1,000 killed inside Israel on and immediately after October 7.

The IDF also announced that it had lost 261 soldiers since it launched the ground invasion in late October, bringing the number of soldiers killed since October 7 to 604.

The war, now in its seventh month, has displaced most of the Palestinian territory’s 2.3 million inhabitants and created a humanitarian crisis.

The ICC investigation is separate from the genocide case launched against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is also based in The Hague.