Israel Scrambles as Netanyahu, Gallant and IDF Chief Face ICC Arrest Warrants for War Crimes in Gaza - Israel News - Haaretz.com
The news shouldn't have surprised the attorney general's office: Karim Khan, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, might issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials on suspicion of war crimes in Gaza.
The Justice Ministry and army lawyers are working hard to prevent that from happening.
Also, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the United States and other Western countries are striving to convince Khan to delay or prevent the issuing of warrants. But it's not clear that they're succeeding.Israeli officials say they believe that the warrants will be served sometime this week against Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Herzl Halevi. Officials below them would be spared.
In contrast to the International Court of Justice, which has been hearing the suit filed by South Africa against Israel, the ICC handles cases against individuals. Like the United States, India, China, Russia, Iran and most Arab countries, Israel recognizes the authority of the International Court of Justice but not the ICC.
If warrants are served, each ICC member state – there are 123 – is obligated to arrest and hand over the defendants to The Hague if they enter its territory. While there is no way to appeal an international arrest warrant, any country can theoretically tell the court that it is handling the case itself.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief Herzl Halevi during a war cabinet meeting, in December.Credit: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO
According to former Deputy Attorney General Roy Schondorf, the issuing of arrest warrants could lead to moves against Israel like an arms embargo or economic sanctions.
"These warrants would group Israel with countries that are considered transgressors against international law, and would come on top of all the other cases against Israel," Schondorf said.
Arrest warrants have never been issued against Israeli officials. But in March 2023, the ICC issued a warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of an investigation into possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine and his alleged involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children to Russia. As a result, Putin can't visit countries where he thinks he might be arrested.
Also, in February, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum urged the ICC to prosecute Hamas leaders.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a protest near the border fence with Israel, in 2018.Credit: Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via AFP
Some experts in international law say the attorney general and army lawyers are partly to blame for not doing enough to prevent Israeli violations of international law.But the Justice Ministry says the government and the security forces have received sufficient counsel. A key question is whether civilians have been harmed intentionally.
Prof. Eliav Lieblich of Tel Aviv University says that belligerent statements by Israeli politicians have not helped the Israeli cause.
For example, Israel Katz, now the foreign minister, demanded that the Gaza Strip's water supply be cut off because "that's what murderers of children deserve." And Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said the dropping of a nuclear bomb on Gaza was "an option" because Israel "must find ways to cause suffering in Gaza."
Lieblich says that such statements support arguments "that Israel intentionally harms, starves and expels civilians from Gaza, and is even trying to annihilate the Palestinians as a group." He notes that such statements played a key role in the lawsuit at the International Court of Justice.
Lieblich also notes the sense that the high command does not fully control the forces on the ground. "Almost every day, videos are surfacing online where soldiers are documenting improper conduct. This leads to distrust in officials' statements about the IDF acting in accordance with the laws of combat," he said.
Doreen Lustig, an assistant professor at Tel Aviv University, notes that the shooting at aid convoys, the destruction of hospital and university buildings, and especially the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers have worked against Israel.
FILE - People inspect the site where World Central Kitchen workers were killed in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, in April.Credit: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
The experts say that thorough and independent investigations by the Israeli legal system should keep a lid on problems in the international arena, including possible arrest warrants.
In January, on the eve of the hearings at the International Court of Justice, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said she would address the cases where Israeli officials called for harm to Palestinian civilians.
A month later, Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi said that Israeli soldiers had committed criminal acts whose damage in the international arena was "hard to overestimate."
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, in 2023.Credit: Yonatan Zindel/Flash90
Already that month, the IDF had begun investigating dozens of suspected violations of orders and international law. Also, the High Court of Justice is hearing a petition filed by rights groups demanding that Israel allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Still, Lieblich believes that the efforts should have been greater after the comments by wayward ministers, and in cases of suspected mistreatment of Hamas members in custody.
Last week, the authorities said they were allowing U.K.-appointed observers to visit Palestinian prisoners, including members of Hamas' elite Nukhba force. This decision is linked to fears that arrest warrants will be served against Israeli officials.
Human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, a legal adviser to rights group Yesh Din, says the massive civilian death toll and destruction in Gaza raise suspicions that approval was carelessly awarded. Also, military prosecutors might lack the courage to investigate the IDF's open-fire policy, he adds.
"The army lawyers and the legal adviser to the government ... will have to provide a lot of explanations," Sfard said.
He says Baharav-Miara's refusal to investigate dozens of cases of suspected incitement to genocide, even after the issuance of interim orders at The Hague, forces the ICC to launch an investigation.
"The attorney general blatantly grants immunity to the troublemakers. It doesn't matter if this is due to negligence or fear of the people potentially being investigated, who are lawmakers, ministers and journalists," Sfard said. He added that Tomer-Yerushalmi, the military advocate general, was supposed to order an immediate investigation into the killing of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers.
Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-YerushalmiCredit: David Bachar
Schondorf, the former deputy attorney general, believes that the effectiveness of the legal advice depends on the cooperation of the political and military authorities.
"In this war, there is a fear that there is also an ideological element, stemming in part from the violation of the authority of the senior command by right-wing politicians," he said.
For its part, the Justice Ministry said that "the law enforcement system in Israel is committed to examining allegations of violations of the law. Decisions on investigations and prosecutions are made based on professional considerations, while exercising independent and impartial judgment."