The International Criminal Court and Israel.

ISRAEL; MIDDLE East

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is facing criticism for its lack of successful prosecutions and is now considering arrest warrants for Israel's political and military leaders. The Israeli media has reported on imminent ICC prosecutions, although there has been no official confirmation. The ICC prosecutor, Karim Ahmad Khan, was elected in 2021 and has the opportunity to save the failing court, but risks damaging its credibility further. Israel argues that it has prosecuted a limited war in self-defense against a genocidal terrorist group, and that the ICC would undermine its own principles by going along with this strategy. The ICC is supposed to investigate before indicting a world leader, but a proper investigation has been impossible due to the warzone in Gaza. The ICC is also meant to complement national legal systems, but Israel's Supreme Court is known for its judicial activism and antigovernment tilt. The abuse of the ICC's powers would cause Israelis to rally around the flag and could have unintended consequences, such as undermining a U.S.-Saudi-Israeli deal. International tribunals are poorly placed in wartime to meet the high evidentiary standards of a criminal trial, and the U.S. is not a party to the ICC. [Extracted from the article]

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