The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been accused of hypocrisy for delaying arrest warrant petitions for Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Security Minister Yoav Gallant for more than five months, yet the warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin was accepted in just 24 days.
The ICC Prosecutor’s Office’s demands for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were made on May 20 but have been met with concerted resistance from “Israel” and its supporters.
Following the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the ICC acted rapidly in Ukraine-related investigations, issuing arrest warrants for six Russian leaders, including Putin, within months. In contrast, no arrest warrants have been issued in the Gaza case since the inquiry began in 2019, indicating considerable delays and apparent double standards.
Prolonged delays in the Palestine probe are reportedly due to “Israel’s” nine-year espionage activities against the ICC and its personnel, as well as the departure of a judge overseeing the case, according to Anadolu.
Complications further developed after the UK challenged Palestine’s statehood and contested the ICC’s authority in response to claims of misconduct against Prosecutor Karim Khan.
Withdrawing for ‘health reasons’
Judge Julia Motoc, who supervised the Pre-Trial Chamber’s evaluation of the case, withdrew for “health reasons and to ensure the proper functioning of justice.” The ICC declared that Judge Beti Hohler, a Slovenian judge who joined the court concurrently, will succeed Motoc.
Dr. Owiso Owiso, an international law expert, warned that Motoc’s resignation might delay the process, while former UN official Craig Mokhiber questioned the abrupt turnaround in the face of mounting pressure from “Israel” and Western nations. Mokhiber pointed out that Judge Hohler had previously proposed that Israeli officials be charged in local tribunals rather than the International Criminal Court, Anadolu wrote.
Delays in the Palestine inquiry date back to 2015, when former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda initiated a preliminary probe. Though the investigation met the required standards in 2019, it was postponed due to jurisdiction disputes. A formal inquiry began in March 2021, but no progress has been made, delaying requests against Netanyahu and Gallant.
The US Senate has previously threatened the ICC with penalties if arrest warrants are issued against Israeli leaders, and the Israeli spy agency Mossad has also interfered in ICC activities.
The Israeli occupation had previously threatened to target the children of the ICC’s Prosecutor Karim Khan and similarly threatened the former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda when she hinted at opening an investigation, even imposing sanctions on her and threatening her husband.
Such actions have jeopardized the ICC’s independence and extended the inquiry, eroding its legitimacy and capacity to provide justice.
‘Israel’ challenges ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant
Last month, a report published by Israeli news website Walla! detailed how the Israeli occupation requested 25 countries to provide an opinion against the ICC prosecutor’s request to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
The site explained that Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz sent letters to 25 foreign ministers around the world, asking them to “join Britain in submitting a legal opinion to the International Criminal Court in The Hague against the Prosecutor General’s request to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.”
Walla! also quoted senior officials in the Israeli occupation’s ministry as saying that “if these countries, or even some of them, send such a legal opinion to the court in The Hague, the judges may be convinced that there is no chance of responding to the Prosecutor General’s request.”
