The Home Secretary took to the airwaves this morning in an attempt to douse the flames of the Prime Minister’s comments, regarding the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu.
Yvette Cooper effectively refused to comment, saying that it was unlikely that the Israeli Prime Minister would be arrested in the UK, stressing that the “overwhelming” majority of rulings by the International Criminal Court do not turn into issues for the British law enforcement system. This was in stark contrast to Keir Starmer, at least in tone, who hours earlier had said that the UK would respect the ICC’s warrant.
What is disturbing about the ICC’s decision is the moral equivalence it places between Israel on the one hand and Hamas, a terrorist organisation. There can be no doubting of the appalling humanitarian impact of the war in Gaza, where thousands of civilians, including women and children, have been killed. At the same time, this was a war deliberately sparked by Hamas, which set out to murder Jews on October 7 last year, when 1,100 people were killed, women raped and 250 taken hostage. Around 100 remain in captivity.
Moreover, the ICC has traditionally been a venue for legal proceedings when it is believed that such actions are impossible in the country of the accused. Israel is a democracy with the rule of law. Netanyahu, like any Israeli citizen, could expect a fair trial, and it is therefore doubtful whether this action was necessary at all. Moreover, Israel is not a signatory to the treaty, which is why it, alongside other countries, argued the ICC lacked jurisdiction over the matter. And while the ICC has sought to attempt a semblance of even handedness, two the Hamas leaders it has indicted are dead.
For all its faults, the effect of this ruling is no less chilling. From a practical perspective, Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, can now expect to face arrest if they were to visit any of the 124 nations that are party to the Rome Statute, including many Israeli allies. It leaves Israel further isolated as it fights not only Hamas in Gaza, but other Iranian-backed terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq. Then there is the threat from Iran itself, which has twice attacked Israel directly in the last few months with drones and ballistic missiles.
Ultimately, the ICC’s ruling makes a ceasefire, so critical to ending the bloodshed, no more likely.
