The Hague Could Issue an Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu & Other Headlines

Tuesday Digest (04.30.24)

A Coming Arrest Warrant for Israeli Officials?

According to the Jewish News Service, international arrest warrants may soon be issued by the International Criminal Court for top Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.

These warrants have apparently been in process for several days, and diplomatic efforts so far to keep ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan from issuing them have failed.

The JNS reports:

[Israel’s Channel 12 News] said the warrants would likely be issued against the background of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the IDF is fighting Hamas, as well as accusations that Israel breached the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War…

Jerusalem believes the ICC will decide in the “coming weeks” and the Israeli government is still fighting the looming arrest warrants on the diplomatic front, mainly through talks with the U.S.

The implications of such a warrant are enormous. It signifies that the official is formally accused of serious crimes under international law—such as genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity. The implication is that the ICC has found sufficient evidence to proceed with legal actions against the individual, and seeks to arrest that person so they can appear for trial at the international courts in The Hague. (Similar warrants have been issued in the past against the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, or Ugandan guerrilla group leader Joseph Kony.]

Such a warrant would represent Israel’s complete isolation as the international community turns broadly against them. What would happen next?