November 21, 2024


The International Criminal Court (ICC), a tribunal that claims worldwide authority over all 124 of its member states, issues arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes. The indictments come some six months after the court’s chief prosecutor had officially petitioned the tribunal for the arrest warrants. Most Western countries are signatories to the ICC’s founding treaty, and as such, they have undertaken to enforce its decisions. Whether they actually would is another matter. To the dismay of the Israeli government, high officials in a number of these countries–including states like Italy and Canada that are not traditionally hostile to Israel–have affirmed or implied that they would enforce the tribunal’s decisions.