THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Israeli officials appear increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court could issue arrest warrants for the country’s leaders after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas.
The ICC was created more than a decade ago to address impunity for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and other serious crimes when states fail to prosecute them. Without a police force, the ICC relies on member states to arrest suspects.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on the social platform X Friday that Israel “will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right to self-defense.”
“While the ICC will not affect Israel’s actions, it would set a dangerous precedent,” he wrote.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said late Sunday that it had informed missions abroad about “rumors” that the court could order the arrest of senior Israeli political and military officials. The ministry did not provide a source for the rumours.
The court has not commented.
The ICC’s 124 member states signed a treaty in 2002 called the Rome Statute. Dozens of countries have neither signed nor accepted the court’s jurisdiction over war crimes, genocide and other crimes. Among them are Israel, the United States, Russia and China.
The ICC intervenes when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory. Israel maintains that it has a functioning judicial system, and disputes over a nation’s ability or willingness to prosecute is an issue that has fueled past disputes between the court and individual countries.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump imposed economic and travel sanctions on the ICC prosecutor and another senior prosecution official. ICC staff were investigating US and allied troops and intelligence officials for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden, whose administration has provided crucial military and political support to the Gaza offensive, lifted sanctions in 2021.
The ICC has 17 ongoing investigations, has issued a total of 42 arrest warrants and detained 21 suspects. Its judges convicted 10 suspects and acquitted four.
In its early years, the court was criticized for focusing on crimes in Africa (ten of its investigations are in African countries), but it now has investigations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
Israel often leveled accusations of bias at international bodies such as the United Nations. The ICC is not a UN body, but accepted the “State of Palestine” as a member in 2015, a year after the Palestinians accepted the court’s jurisdiction.
The court’s chief prosecutor at the time announced in 2021 that she would open an investigation into possible crimes on Palestinian territory. Netanyahu called the decision hypocritical and anti-Semitic.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan visited Ramallah and Israel in December and met with Palestinian officials and relatives of Israelis killed or taken hostage by Hamas militants on October 20. 7 that unleashed the war between Israel and Hamas.
He called Hamas’ actions “some of the most serious international crimes that shock the conscience of humanity, crimes for which the ICC was created” and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
Khan said that “international humanitarian law must still be applied” in the war between Israel and Hamas and that “the Israeli military knows the law that must be applied.”
A year ago, after the court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accused of responsibility for the kidnapping of children from Ukraine. Russia responded by issuing its own arrest warrants against Khan and the ICC judges.
Other high-profile leaders indicted by the court include ousted Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir over allegations including genocide in his country’s Darfur region. Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was captured and killed by rebels shortly after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him on charges related to the brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011.