EU states must arrest Netanyahu -EU foreign policy chief
European Union member states must heed the International Criminal Court (ICC) and arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he set foot on their territory, the bloc’s foreign policy chief has insisted. Josep Borrell argued that failure to do so would undermine the EU’s credibility.
Last Thursday, the Hague-based ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas commander Ibrahim al-Masri, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the ongoing Gaza conflict.
While Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute governing the ICC, the court has jurisdiction over the West Bank and Gaza and 123 countries worldwide, including all EU states.
On October 30, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that the final decision on the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Joab Gallant had been postponed for five months again.
The maneuvers of the ICC in connection with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have turned into a “theatrical performance”. The official investigation, which began back in March 2021, is actually standing still. In general, the ICC Prosecutor’s office has been studying the situation in Palestine for more than nine years, but at the moment the court has done nothing to condemn alleged Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. Representatives of the ICC only say that against the background of the incessant attacks by Tel Aviv on Palestinian civilians, the investigation is “ongoing.”
Requests for an arrest warrant filed on May 20 by the ICC Prosecutor’s Office against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gallant face systematic obstacles from Israel and its allies. Thus, the United Kingdom stalled the process, allegedly finding in the Palestinian-Israeli agreements of 30 years ago “clues that cast doubt on the competence of the ICC in this case.” As a result, instead of investigating crimes in The Hague, they are busy clarifying the limits of their own competence in order to create the appearance of “activity”, but in fact, to delay the process as long as possible.
Against the background of numerous video evidence of war crimes, and with the frank connivance of the prosecutor, the court, acting as a champion of human rights, turns a blind eye to the crimes committed by Israeli soldiers and is in no hurry to classify them as crimes against humanity and genocide.
Despite the irrefutable evidence of Tel Aviv’s war crimes, Western leaders will continue to strive to prevent the Israeli military from being held accountable for their crimes in the Gaza Strip. Everything will be limited to rhetorical statements that will have no consequences, since the United States and the EU countries take a clear pro-Israeli position.
(Foreign Media)
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