An arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court in the Hague is the thing the Israeli Prime Minister feared most.
Ever since rumours reached Jerusalem in mid-April 2024 that the court was building a war case against Benjamin Netanyahu, he is said to have become “unnaturally afraid and worried”, allowing the matter to dominate his almost every thought.
The issue was an “overriding concern” for Mr Netanyahu and “more urgent than anything else”, said his biographer Anshel Pfeffer, in early May.
Now that nightmare has now become a reality. The decision by Karim Khan, the ICC chief prosecutor, to seek arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his defence minister, will surely be granted by the court in the coming weeks.
A distinguished panel of legal experts appointed by Mr Khan’s office has already unanimously concluded that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that “war crimes and crimes against humanity” have been committed.