Karim Khan.

 

 

My kibbutz like most close-knit rural communities provides a social and operational network application that is both a local information outlet and an opinion platform.                                                                                           The information content includes tenders for work positions mainly in our industrial and agricultural branches.

Occasionally I check to see what we are looking for.

While doing this, it occurred to me that tenders for replacing Hamas on the “day after” aren’t likely to draw many applicants. None of the Arab League’s 22 member states have volunteered for the job.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Galant have been “grounded” by ICC’s Karim Khan.

Israel has been in touch with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor’s office in recent weeks. Israeli officials were expecting to host ICC officials for a preliminary visit to plan an official visit by Karim Khan.

Israel was ready to welcome Khan and show him how decisions are made, where legal experts fit into the decision-making process, how military strikes are approved in the IDF, what Israel is doing to further humanitarian aid, and more.

Israel was taken completely by surprise by Khan’s announcement that he intends to seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Khan had been in Israel on an unofficial visit after October 7 to meet hostage families.

The fact that Khan made the announcement in front of cameras, indicating that he was running after headlines, further frustrated Israeli officials.

For now, the Foreign Ministry is involved in a diplomatic blitz to ask other countries to publicly decry Khan’s decision. The ministry is convinced that other countries will issue statements similar to those that have already come from the Czech Republic, Austria, and the UK.

President Biden and moderate Democrats united with Republicans in Congress to criticise the ICC shortly after the announcement on Monday that the arrest warrants had been filed for Netanyahu and Gallant, along with three Hamas terrorists. 

They argued the ICC has no jurisdiction in the case and was undermining its own credibility, while House Republican leaders threatened to sanction the court over the warrants.

Sen. James E. Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the ICC inserted a “false moral equivalency” for issuing arrest warrants targeting both Hamas and Israel. 

“Today’s ICC decision is absurd. The ICC, like the rest of the international community, continues to be obsessed with targeting Israel during its time of need,” Risch said in a statement. “Today’s actions have hurt the credibility of the court and seriously harmed legitimate accountability efforts where true war crimes are occurring, like Ukraine, Syria, and across Africa.” 

The White House also criticised the ICC for the arrest warrants, with Biden calling it “outrageous.”

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters that while there have been too many casualties in Gaza, the Israeli military is not intentionally targeting civilians.

“[Israeli] soldiers are not waking up in the morning putting their boots on the ground with direct orders to go kill innocent civilians in Gaza,” he said.  

The U.S. and Israel have repeatedly contrasted the army’s actions with Hamas.

“There should be no equivalence at all,” Kirby said. “It’s ridiculous.” 

But ICC top prosecutor Karim Khan deflected criticism in a Monday interview with CNN, noting he appointed an independent panel of international law experts to review the warrant process.  

Khan said Israel has a right to defend itself, but it must still comply with international humanitarian law because no country has a “get out of jail free card.” 

“This is not a witch hunt. This is not some kind of emotional reaction to noise,” he said. “The way I look at things is look at the evidence. Look at the conduct. Look at the victims and airbrush out the nationality and if a crime has been committed, we should move forward.” 

The arrest warrants will have to be finalised by a pretrial chamber at the ICC, which has the power to add or remove charges. The chamber will also hear arguments on whether the ICC has jurisdiction in this matter, which the Biden administration has argued it does not. 

Israel is not party to the ICC, but the court recognises the state of Palestine as a member. While Palestine is not an official country, it has been recognised by the United Nations. Its membership to the ICC may give jurisdiction in the dispute because the territories of Gaza and the West Bank are involved in the conflict.  

Hamas also denounced the ICC in a statement for what it said was an attempt to “equate the victim with the executioner” without a legal basis, arguing it had the right to “resist the occupation in all forms, including armed resistance.”  

The ICC, an independent court established in 2002, tries individuals for crimes and the 124 nations that are party to the court are obliged to arrest wanted persons. The U.S. is not party to the ICC, but many allies are, including NATO members. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticised the ICC for a “shameful” move and accused court staff of backing down from a visit to Israel on Monday — the same day the warrants were issued — to discuss the Israeli perspective on the matter. 

Blinken also argued the ICC made a “rush to seek these arrest warrants rather than allowing the Israeli legal system a full and timely opportunity to proceed.” 

The warrants for Israeli officials could spur Congress to pass legislation that sanctions the ICC, as Republicans threatened to do after the incoming court decision was leaked to the press last month.  

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chair of the House Republican Conference, doubled down on those threats on Monday. 

“The ICC is an illegitimate court that equivocates a peaceful nation protecting its right to exist with radical terror groups that commit genocide,” she said. 

Still, progressives are calling for the U.S. to comply with the ICC ruling, comparing it to how Washington has fully backed the court issuing arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin for his alleged participation in abducting children from Ukraine. 

In April 2022, Khan said of the war in Ukraine: "We have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed." Eleven months later, he applied for two arrest warrants alleging Vladimir Putin and Russian children’s rights advocate Maria Lvova-Belova violated two Rome Statute rules against systematic deportation, transfer and hostage-taking. In response, Russia issued a warrant for Khan's arrest.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), established in 2002, seeks to hold to account those guilty of some of the world’s worst crimes. Champions of the court say it deters would-be war criminals, bolsters the rule of law, and offers justice to victims of atrocities. But, since its inception, the court has faced criticism from many parties and has been unable to gain the membership of major powers, including the United States, China, and Russia.

Henry Kissinger complained that the checks and balances vested in the court’s structure are so weak that the prosecutor "has virtually unlimited discretion in practice"

Two countries have withdrawn from the court, and many African governments complain that its prosecutions have singled out the African continent. U.S. opposition to the ICC hardened under President Donald Trump, and although the Joe Biden administration has taken a more conciliatory approach, tensions remain. Some analysts say the ICC’s ongoing investigations into the conflicts in Ukraine and the Palestinian territories demonstrate the court’s continued relevance despite its formidable challenges.

The ICC is currently facing significant challenges which may result in questioning its viability. These challenges include a weak record of prosecutions, discord among the court’s judges, and a difficult relationship with the world’s great powers, namely Russia and the United States.

The United Kingdom issued a statement at the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) saying, “[W]e cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend everything is fine when it isn’t. The statistics are sobering. After more than 20 years, and 1.5 billion Euros spent we have only three core crime convictions.”

Considering the ICC’s far from perfect conviction record, Karim Khan’s dubious initiative will likely end up being nothing more than a “storm in a teacup.”

 

Take care.

 

Beni.

 

23rd of May, 2024.