Officials in Jerusalem, frustrated with Washington’s refusal to act to push back against the International Criminal Court, are making public their objection to the ICC’s likely imminent global arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.  

“It’s disappointing that sanctions against the ICC clowns and their facilitators have yet to pass at Senate,” a close aide to Mr. Netanyahu, Ophir Falk, tells the Sun in an email. He was referring to a measure in Congress to sanction ICC officials, a step that is opposed by the Biden administration and Democrats in the Upper House.  

The House’s “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act” has been hung up in the Senate’s foreign relations committee, chaired by Senator Ben Cardin. It calls for financial and other sanctions against ICC officials. As president, Donald Trump sanctioned ICC officials, including by denying entry to America to its former prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda.    

Last week the current prosecutor, Karim Khan, asked the ICC judges to act quickly on his request, first issued in May, to slap international arrest warrants against the Israeli officials. He cited alleged ongoing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, including, allegedly, by imposing famine on the Strip.  

Israel, like America, is not a member of the ICC, a fact that Washington officials cited in public statements objecting the ICC intention to issue arrest warrants. As President Biden and Vice President Harris are slow to make or seek more concrete action to oppose the court, Israel is now moving to officially push back. 

We are issuing an “official objection to the jurisdiction of the ICC and to the legality” of the prosecutor’s request for an arrest, the Jerusalem foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said in a statement Friday. Israel initiated two separate legal proceedings to counter the Hague’s court jurisdiction, he added. 

In one, according to Mr. Marmorstein, Israel determined that the ICC has “no authority in relation to the case in question.” In a second, Israel determined that the prosecutor “blatantly violated the court’s constitution and the principle of complementarity.”

The ICC was established by a 1998 Rome Statute, which has been ratified by 124 countries. It was founded to try war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by individuals in countries that are its members, or in a territory of its members. Israel has not ratified the statute, which allows ICC jurisdiction only over member countries.  

The Hague nevertheless argues that alleged “crimes” are committed by Israelis in areas that belong to one of its newest members, the Palestinian Authority. Specifically, it cites events in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, rather than the Authority.  

Complementarity, as cited by the ministry, is a long-held principle in international law cited in the Rome Statute. It specifies that international venues will only try cases where a country lacks a competent and independent legal system. The ICC violated that principle “by not acting as required to allow Israel, before advancing its actions, to exercise its right to investigate on its own the claims it raises,”  

Israel refrained from joining the court for fear that its officials would be first in line to be tried at the Hague. America, similarly, is not a member, nor are Communist China, Russia, India, and other large countries. 

Nevertheless, the ICC issued an international arrest warrant against President Putin for crimes committed in Ukraine. While Kyiv has not ratified the Rome Statute, it has accepted the court’s jurisdiction over its territory, as did America, which is helping the ICC in gathering evidence against Russian officials.

Since its establishment, the ICC has been accused of taking mostly cases against alleged criminals in Africa. South Africa and others in the continent have threatened to leave the court, demanding a Hague action in other regions. Israel seemed like a natural target, and Ms. Bensouda opened several inquiries on Palestinian allegations. 

While Ms. Bensouda’s cases never came to fruition, Mr. Khan, a British national, used the Gaza war to finally demand an arrest of the Israeli premier and foreign minister. Britain, an ICC member, considered petitioning the court against issuing the warrants, but dropped the idea once Labour, led by Sir Keir Starmer, won an election. 

“Various leading countries, including member states of the Court, organizations, and legal experts from around the world share the positions presented by Israel on these issues,” the foreign ministry spokesman, Mr. Marmorstein said. “No other democracy with an independent and respected judicial system, as exists in the State of Israel, has received such discriminatory treatment from the prosecutor.”