The International Criminal Court in The Hague is expected to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant within the next two weeks, according to Israel’s Channel 14.
Israel had bargained that an unofficial agreement with Britain’s previous Conservative government would derail the ICC effort, the report said.
According to that agreement, Britain would file a challenge to the court over whether it had jurisdiction in the Gaza Strip. Britain reportedly filed an amicus brief to that effect with the court on June 10.
In exchange, Israel would give Britain access to the prison conditions of the Hamas terrorists who carried out the massacre of Oct. 7. The British government had hoped to conciliate pro-Palestinian elements within the United Kingdom; Britain has contended with mass anti-Israel rallies since Oct. 7.
According to a European source cited by Channel 14, the new Labour government would not pull the challenge, if only because all indications are that the court intends to ignore it, allowing Labour to avoid souring relations with Israel without angering its anti-Israel supporters at home.
However, contradictory reports say Labour is planning to drop the challenge altogether. Labour officials, according to a Guardian report, recently said that the party believes the ICC does have jurisdiction over Gaza.
In either case, Israeli legal officials agree that it’s “highly probable” the ICC will issue arrest warrants in the next two weeks, said Channel 14 reporter Tamir Morag.
“Therefore, we are about to see, after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, two arrest warrants against the prime minister of Israel and the defense minister of Israel,” he said.
On June 25, Netanyahu also said that he expected the ICC would approve its chief prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants, Ynet reported. Netanyahu suggested that the warrants could be issued before his address to the U.S. Congress on July 24.
Based on the court’s previous timelines, the period between a warrant request and the court’s decision is between one to eight months. In the case of Russian President Vladimir Putin it took one month.
ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan requested warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes on May 20.
Khan lumped the two Israeli leaders together with Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, (possibly killed in a recent IDF airstrike) and Ismail Haniyeh.
The ICC has no jurisdiction in Israel as Jerusalem is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the court. But in a legalistic sleight of hand, the court claimed jurisdiction by accepting the “State of Palestine” as a signatory in 2015, even though no such state exists.
However, the 124 countries that are signatories to the Rome Convention are obligated to act on any arrest warrant it issues, raising the possibility that Netanyahu and Gallant could be placed under arrest while visiting these places.
Lending credence to this seemingly far fetched scenario was the response by France and Germany to the ICC prosecutor’s announcement.
“We support the International Court of Justice, its independence and the fight against impunity in any situation,” said Stéphane Séjourné, France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs.
Berlin’s Federal Foreign Office stated, “The International Criminal Court is a fundamental achievement of the international community that Germany has always supported. Germany respects its independence and the conduct of proceedings just as it does for all other international courts.”
And David Lammy, now British Foreign Secretary, said in May, “Labour believes that the U.K. and all parties to the Rome Statute have a legal obligation to comply with orders and warrants issued by the court. Democracies who believe in the rule of law must submit themselves to it.”
