Israel believes that the International Criminal Court will issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the coming weeks, Channel 12 news reported Wednesday, after the court’s chief prosecutor announced applying for the warrants back in May.

The expected warrants have been the subject of meetings at the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry in recent weeks, the network said, and all have estimated that they will be issued in the next few weeks.

• ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said in May that he was seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant due to suspected crimes of “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.”
• At the same time, Khan said he was also seeking warrants for top Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Deif on charges of extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape, and sexual assault.

The decision was harshly criticized by Israeli officials, both due to the charges leveled against Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as the seeming comparison drawn between Israeli leadership in a war they did not start, and the Hamas terror group.

United States President Joe Biden added his voice to the criticism and said that the US rejected the accusations against Israel by the international court.

• “What’s happening [in Gaza] is not genocide,” he said at the time.

The US is not a signatory to the Rome Treaty which established the ICC, meaning it does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.

It would not be required, therefore, to place Netanyahu or Gallant under arrest should they be on US soil after a warrant is issued, meaning that Netanyahu should not run into any issues when traveling to the US next month for a July 24th address to a joint session of Congress.

• Channel 12 reported, however, that his office does not believe his visit will be risk-free. If his plane is required to make an emergency landing, it could very well have to do so in a country that recognizes the ICC’s jurisdiction, which could result in the arrest warrant being implemented.

According to the report, legal officials have been conducting talks on the implications the warrant could have on Netanyahu, and on his planned visit to the US.

• The Prime Minister’s Office denied this, telling Channel 12 that “there is no concern regarding the prime minister’s travels.”

Source: TOI