Editors at National Review Online call for the end of a dubious international organization.
The International Criminal Court just took, one hopes, a massive step toward its own demise by seeking warrants for the arrest of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The team of ICC prosecutor Karim Khan alleges that Israel has “intentionally and systematically” deprived Palestinians of food, water, electricity, and other necessities during its campaign in Gaza and that it is carrying out a “widespread and systematic” attack on Palestinian civilians.
These are absurd assertions considering Israel’s consistent efforts to get aid into the territory and its painstaking work to minimize civilian harm — a regime so stringent that it likely exceeds what Washington has done in its own campaigns against ISIS and al-Qaeda.
It’s also morally abominable that Khan announced his intent to prosecute top Israeli officials alongside his announcement that he’s seeking the arrests of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, and Hamas political bureau head Ismail Haniyeh. That decision supports the idea that Khan is seeking to create an equivalence between Israel and Hamas and that he’s being driven by political considerations.
Primarily, though, the application is a problem because the ICC has no right to insert itself into this matter.
It doesn’t have jurisdiction here. Israel is not party to the ICC’s Rome Statute. Khan’s petition concerns a fake case brought forward on the specious legal theory that “Palestine,” a fake country, can join the ICC — a fake global court.
Even by the court’s own standards, this application for arrest warrants is wrong. Under the court’s principle of complementarity, the ICC claims that it defers to the national authorities of the states that it investigates for possible crimes.
Moreover, Israel clearly has a competent, independent judiciary that is willing to investigate prospective war crimes.
