ICC arrest warrants: The Palestinians have prevailed in the ‘legitimacy war’
A demonstrator shows a sign with the words ‘Arrest Bibi’ during a protest in front of the UN headquarters in New York City on 26 September 2024
Richard Falk writes in Middle East Eye on 22 November 2024:
The International Criminal Court (ICC) delayed the formal issuance of arrest warrants for top Israeli political leaders directing the genocidal assault on Gaza for six months, although it responded affirmatively in a matter of days to a comparable request involving Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alleged criminality in Ukraine.
Double standards, to be sure, yet ICC action is a welcome alternative to either denying chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s recommendation of 20 May or delaying indefinitely the decision on whether the arrest warrants should be issued.
The ruling of ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, given the overwhelming evidence of their responsibility for severe international crimes, comes as big news.
It is a blow against geopolitical impunity and in favour of accountability.
If this ICC action is assessed by its ability to sway Israel’s short-term behaviour in directions more in accord with international law, as well as to the majority views prevalent in the UN, the Global South, and world public opinion, this ICC decision can be cynically dismissed as an empty gesture.
Some argue that the tangible impact of arrest warrants, if any, will be to alter Netanyahu and Gallant’s future travel plans slightly. The decision obliges the 124 member states of the ICC to carry out arrests of these individuals, should they be so bold as to venture onto their territory. Non-parties, including the US, Russia, China, Israel, and others, are not even subject to this trivial obligation.