ICC is a fake court that operates on the basis of only holding poorer countries in Africa to account — or more specifically, their leaders — and not Israel nor the U.S. Join us on Telegram , Twitter , and VK . Contact us: info@strategic-culture.su The Iran crisis appears to have diverted media attention away from the widespread human rights atrocities that continue to be carried out by Israel in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. Once again, we see the farce of international law being sidestepped in favour of Israel, with impunity for those who have blood on their hands.
Some might be forgiven for thinking that the ICC court in The Hague might hold those in Israel to account, but in reality it is a fake court that operates on the basis of only holding poorer countries in Africa to account — or more specifically, their leaders — and not Israel nor the U.S., although technically neither country is a member of the court.
However, that doesn’t stop Palestine from using its power as both an observer state of the UN and a signatory of the Rome Statute to file cases against Israeli leaders it accuses of acts of genocide.
The snag comes with implementation. Cynics argue that even though the U.S. didn’t join the court, it was instrumental in its creation and uses it as a hegemonic tool when convenient. Trump, though, has taken things to a whole new level and recently sanctioned a number of ICC officials as punishment for the arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and several of his officials. But this contempt for the court is also being tested and reaching new levels of farce by Israel, which is now using the indictments as what they call an “act of war” and preparing a battlefield response.
Just recently, Israel’s finance minister ordered the eviction of a Palestinian village in the West Bank that has long been a target of Israeli authorities, claiming the measure is a response to reports that he may be a target of international war crimes prosecutors.
Bezalel Smotrich believes that the court is about to target him, even though the Hague court says it keeps requests and plans for warrants confidential.
But the ICC has already issued arrest warrants for other Israeli figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to face war crimes charges connected to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. Israel does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction, but the warrants could make international travel difficult — as Netanyahu has discovered recently, refusing to even land his plane in Germany, despite assurances from its government that he won’t be arrested.
Smotrich, who heads a far-right religious party called the Religious Zionist Party and has led an aggressive illegal expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, appeared to be merely responding to media reports but called the attempts to arrest him a “declaration of war.”
Remarkably, he has ordered the eviction of a Palestinian village in the West Bank that has long been a target of Israeli authorities, saying, according to the AP, that “the measure is a response to reports that he may be a target of international war crimes prosecutors.”
This act alone ratchets up the lucid contempt that both Israel and the West have for international law when it comes to Israel, which is clearly not interested in being held to account for any of its war crimes. To arrest and charge those guilty of war crimes, the West only really has the ICC and the Rome Statute (which Israel actually signed but didn’t ratify). So if the EU and U.S. do nothing and allow this to be carried out, Israel will be allowed to extend and advance its genocide and ethnic cleansing policy, with a rubber stamp from the EU, which has two international courts based in one of its member states.
The ICC is quite young as a court, established in 2002, but was favoured by many Global South countries — particularly in Africa — as an effective tool to prevent leaders of neighbouring countries from attempting coups in host countries. Thirty-three countries from Africa make up its 125 members, and if this disgusting act by Israel goes ahead with no reaction from the ICC members from EU countries, there is a very real risk that the court’s credibility will collapse and members will withdraw en masse. Netanyahu’s cabal witnessed how, after his own arrest warrant was issued, it didn’t affect him travelling to the U.S., and a smear campaign quickly emerged against the court’s British chief prosecutor — sending a message that Israel’s architects of genocide have absolute impunity.