ICC's decision – Anti-Semitic attack by Europe's globalist elite Israeli experts on Caliber.Az

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. Specifically, the ICC alleges that both leaders "intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival" and obstructed the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians at least since October 8, 2023.

What is particularly shocking is that, at the same time, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for one of Hamas's leaders, Mohammed Deif—who had already been killed in an Israeli airstrike on July 13 in the city of Khan Yunis in Gaza. In effect, the ICC has equated the actions of Israeli politicians with those of extremists.

How has this decision been perceived within Israel? Caliber.Az reached out to Israeli political analysts to explore their views.

According to Israeli international relations expert and Rabbi Michael Finkel, the ICC's decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant is both politically and economically motivated. He believes this situation requires closer examination.

"Those currently in charge of the ICC are proxies of the left-liberal and globalist elites in Europe, and, of course, the left-liberal elites of the Democratic Party in the United States. It appears that, in the final days of President Biden's term, they decided to strike at Netanyahu and Israel.

Who is the ICC's chief prosecutor? His name is Karim Khan, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Some reports suggest he holds radical anti-Israeli views and is, in all likelihood, a covert Islamist with a hidden sympathy for terrorist movements fighting Israel. However, it should be noted that Khan delayed this blow against Israel, as he had expressed his intention to issue such a warrant as early as when he first assumed the position several years ago.

But what has Khan been waiting for, and why now? He was likely waiting for support, which he has now received from Israel’s enemies—not only from the radical globalists, left-liberal and Islamist radicals within the Democratic Party in the United States, but also from Iran, as well as those advocating Iran's financial and international policies from Qatar. It is no secret that Qatar holds the largest portion of Iran's financial assets, which are used to lobby for Iran’s interests worldwide. Finally, Khan has decided to take this step, aiming to secure both political and, as some experts suggest, material gains for himself.

But this is a huge miscalculation by Khan, as the reaction didn’t take long to materialize. US President Joe Biden has already called the International Criminal Court's decision ‘outrageous,’ and the team of the elected president is already planning punitive measures against the ICC in The Hague, intending to implement them immediately after Trump’s inauguration. Therefore, with Trump’s return to the White House, we can expect a significant blow to Prosecutor Khan and the entire ICC administration. I should remind you that the US does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction, and neither China, India, Azerbaijan, nor many other countries do. To put it metaphorically, the ICC’s jurisdiction is essentially a fig leaf of imagined European political correctness. I believe that immediately upon returning to the White House, Trump could make just a few calls to the ICC’s main sponsors, some of whom he knows very well. After that, the ICC could find itself facing a threat to its very existence, because bills need to be paid.

There is a great deal of kompromat on Prosecutor Khan, of various kinds, and I believe it could very well come into play. After such successive moves, I think the ICC judges, after consulting among themselves, will come to the conclusion that the arrest warrants for Israeli politicians should be reviewed, discovering inaccuracies and errors. These warrants will then simply be annulled in an official decision by the ICC itself. Of course, we will find out about this in due time," Finkel assured.

According to Abraham Shmulevich, a specialist on the Caucasus, the Islamic world, and the Middle East, and the head of the Institute of Eastern Partnership (Jerusalem), the ICC's decision should not only be viewed in the context of European politics.

"The International Court in The Hague is formed by the UN, and many countries on this UN list are hostile to Israel. Therefore, the court reflects their position. And this is, of course, a completely schizophrenic stance, where, on the one hand, the so-called international community ignores numerous crimes occurring around the world, but at the same time, all its attention is focused on the supposed crimes allegedly committed by Israel. But the truth is that no one in Gaza has died of starvation because Israel sends international aid to Gaza, as well as Israeli humanitarian shipments directly. Every day, hundreds of trucks with food, energy supplies, medicines, and more are sent to the Gaza Strip. I think everyone clearly understands that the ICC's decision is utterly absurd. Israel, of course, will ignore this decision and has already stated as much. The Prime Minister's office has already called the ICC's ruling 'anti-Semitic' and emphasized that Israel 'will not bow to pressure' when it comes to defending its citizens," noted the political analyst.

In his view, Azerbaijan understands this injustice well, as the International Criminal Court has not made a single decision in defence of Azerbaijani refugees who were expelled by the Armenian side during the Karabakh war.

"And we clearly understand that the international community simply turned a blind eye to this. Not one of the Armenian generals who participated in these crimes and openly stated that they were killing civilians has been held accountable. At the same time, all of Western Europe has expressed support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, but at the same time opposed Azerbaijan taking measures to restore that integrity. A similar hypocritical policy is evident concerning Israel. Israel is the country most often criticized for practically any action it takes. Even Israel’s unprecedented efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza were hastily declared an international crime. However, I hope that many civilized European countries will oppose the absurd actions of the ICC. A telling example is the statements made by the Hungarian government, which rejected the ICC's decision and expressed support for Israel, even inviting Netanyahu to visit their country," emphasized the political analyst.

Therefore, in his opinion, the ICC's arrest warrant will not have any significant consequences for Israel, but unfortunately, it marks a certain success for Hamas.

"I want to note that, for some reason, no living Hamas leader has been held accountable so far. They have charged Mohammed Deif, who is already dead, because he was one of the Hamas leaders responsible for the massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023. Yet there are still living leaders of Hezbollah, who fire on Israeli civilian settlements every day, which is an undeniable violation of international law, but for some reason, the ICC has not brought any charges against them," added Shmulevich.

According to the political analyst, this proves that international law, and the international system as it currently exists, are not functioning. It has become a tool in the hands of certain interested nations that have nothing to do with true international law.

"Therefore, such a system needs to be reformed. And I hope that with Donald Trump returning to power, he will change this system, or at least try to fundamentally reshape it. I remind you that during his previous term, the Trump administration even initiated legal action against the then-head of the ICC for a number of illegal acts. I believe the same will happen now. So, once again, the ICC’s actions will not be able to exert any pressure on Israel. Unless, of course, Netanyahu decides to refrain from visiting certain countries that he already visits very rarely.

Of course, it’s unfortunate that this ICC decision gives Hamas additional legitimacy and complicates negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages. But I believe Israel will manage this issue as well. If we try to answer the question of what motivated those who made this decision, I think it’s the same motives that guided them 70-80 years ago, during the destruction of the Jewish people in Europe. In this sense, these countries haven’t changed much. I remind you that it was in The Hague, in the Netherlands, where the Dutch police, which immediately sided with the Nazis after the occupation, carried out the deportation of Jews to death camps without question. Many people in Europe and around the world still desire the destruction of Israel, and all these actions are a continuation of their policy. They failed to destroy the Jews under Hitler, they failed during the numerous Arab-Israeli wars, and now they are trying to do it again," concluded Shmulevich.