The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, has dealt out arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, for what it said were war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
The court on Thursday said it found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant were criminally responsible for employing the war crime of starvation along with “murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.”
“The chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population,” ICC officials said in a statement.
The court accused Israel of “intentionally and knowingly” depriving Palestinians in Gaza of food, water, medical supplies and electricity in violation of the country’s responsibility under international law.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies, created conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of parts of the civilian population in Gaza, which resulted in the death of civilians, including children, due to malnutrition and dehydration,” the ICC said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog accused the ICC of making a laughingstock of international justice, saying it’s dismissing the plight of more than 100 hostages held by Hamas terrorists inside the Palestinian enclave.
“It ignores the basic fact that Israel was barbarically attacked and has the duty and right to defend its people,” Mr. Herzog posted Thursday on X. “It ignores the fact that Israel is a vibrant democracy, acting under international law, and going to great lengths to provide for the humanitarian needs of the civilian population.”
He accused the ICC of choosing the side of terror and evil over democracy and freedom and turning the system of justice into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity.
“This cynical exploitation of the international legal institutions reminds us once again of the need for true moral clarity in the face of an Iranian empire of evil that seeks to destabilize our region and the world, and destroy the very institutions of the free world,” Mr. Herzog said on X.
The ICC arrest warrants against Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant are a step toward holding Israel’s government accountable for its actions inside Gaza, said officials with IfNotNow, a group of left-wing American Jews opposing what it calls Israel’s apartheid system against Palestinians.
“This won’t bring back the likely hundreds of thousands of Palestinians killed by the Israeli military over the last 13 months or the over 1,100 Israelis killed in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, but we hope it may bring a measure of justice and enable the world to avert catastrophes like this again,” the group said in a statement. “Political leaders in the U.S. should support the ICC’s efforts instead of threatening, sanctioning and delegitimizing the court.”
Israel and the U.S. aren’t members of the ICC, so there’s little chance Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant would be arrested at home or in America, but they could be apprehended in any of the 124 countries that are members.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, called the ICC a “dangerous joke” and said the time has come for lawmakers in the U.S. to formally sanction “this irresponsible body.”
Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, is the subject of an internal investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied.
“The ‘International Corrupt Criminal Court’ has acted in the most absurd and irresponsible manner possible by issuing arrest warrants against the prime minister and former defense minister of Israel while there is a serious cloud of allegations hanging over the prosecutor who sought these warrants,” Mr. Graham said in a statement.
He accused the ICC of defying every concept of fundamental fairness and legitimizing the actions of a “corrupt prosecutor.”
“Calling for an independent investigation of the prosecutor’s misconduct one day and issuing a warrant based on his work product the next day is an affront to any sense of fairness and the rule of law,” Sen. Graham said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.