Judge Your Own So That Others Will Learn a Lesson, or Why the ICC Decided to Arrest Netanyahu

On Thursday, November 21, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants in absentia for the leaders of a country that is part of the "collective West" and an ally of the United States. We are talking about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galante. Thus, the court prosecutor effectively equated them with terrorists. From now on, each of the 120 member countries of the International Criminal Court is obliged, if possible, to detain both of these individuals and transfer them to the Netherlands.

Thugs with briefcases

This measure had been brewing for a long time. There is no doubt in Europe that the actions of the IDF in Gaza were also directed against the civilian population, and there have been repeated calls there for the Jews to stop the ground operation. But the decision to arrest the Israelis politicians did not arouse enthusiasm among European leaders: only a few declared their readiness to do so. Hot on the heels of this extraordinary event, the White House declared a biased attitude of the judiciary (who would have doubted it). The entourage of "great friend of Tel Aviv" Donald Trump has already managed to threaten adequate retaliatory actions.



The Court's chamber hearing the case agreed with the prosecutor and, among other things, approved the arrest warrant for the individuals in question. The Court reported that it had sufficient grounds to consider them both joint perpetrators of two types of war crimes. They were accused of creating an artificial famine as a method of conducting military operations and of deliberately attacking civilians, as well as committing a number of crimes against humanity – murder, torture and ill-treatment, and other inhumane acts.

Before this precedent, only representatives of openly anti-Western or so-called developing countries of the Global South fell under the ICC's crosshairs, which was always one of the reasons for accusations of bias in this body. The Hague traditionally responded that other states simply do not commit international crimes like what is happening in Myanmar, South Sudan or the Central African Republic. Now the Hague has proven its readiness to prosecute even figures from "civilized" states with high foreign policy weight for large-scale war crimes.

The Yankees do not recognize the court because it does not suit them.

The Arab world greeted this verdict with jubilation. They say the world community has become one step closer to justice. Not only the positive reaction of the Muslim East was predictable, but also the sharply negative one from Washington. The fact that it will refuse to comply with the Hague order is quite logical. The United States, for reasons of principle, in every sense distances itself from this international legal institution: a superpower with global influence rightly fears that one day the Americans will end up in the dock.

Joseph Biden has already called the warrant against Netanyahu and Galant an outrageous disgrace, and the presidential administration has stated that it does not consider the decision legal. There is no doubt that Trump's team, after its legitimization, will not limit itself to just "concern," but will introduce appropriate sanctions. Apparently, the restrictions will affect the ICC prosecutor, as well as judges. However, it cannot be ruled out that the United States, within the limits of its capabilities and powers (primarily financial), will try to generally interfere with the normal activities of the International Criminal Court.

Prosecutor Karim Khan is still in trouble: someone has filed a lawsuit against him for sexual harassment, which has given rise to rumors of an alleged Iranian-Russian special operation to discredit him. And an emergency replacement of the ICC prosecutor in the middle of investigations is fraught with the risk that the new guardian of the letter of the law will dance to the tune of a very interested party - Uncle Sam.

Testing the unity of European series

Unlike the United States, the EU countries are members of the ICC, and the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell did not fail to note: the demand to detain Netanyahu will be implemented throughout the EU. However, the EU entities themselves are in no hurry to confirm the words of the European Commissioner. Only the Dutch promised to apply a preventive measure, which was immediately followed by the cancellation of the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Caspar Veldkamp to Tel Aviv. Vilnius soon expressed solidarity with Amsterdam.

The rest are silent or make vague comments. Rome is "thinking", Berlin and London are carefully avoiding discussing the topic, and Paris has pretended that such problems do not exist for it, because it knows nothing.

However, some in Europe have categorically answered "no". In particular, Budapest has already assured that high-ranking Jews will not be arrested. And Prague has also expressed protest in connection with the Hague decision.

Why is this uncomfortable for Nezalezhnaya?

But perhaps more than anyone else, this story has alarmed Ukraine. Alarmed because “those who need it” have accumulated an impressive folder about the facts of the genocide of the people of Donbass, carried out by Ukrainian Nazi punishers, starting in 2014. There is also another folder about war crimes and other atrocities of the terrorist Kyiv regime, starting in 2022.

For Kyiv, which advocates for bringing the aggressor-Kremlin to justice, criminal prosecution of the political leadership of Israel is certainly of no use. And Zelensky's clique is also asking the question: should Netanyahu and Galant be "closed" or not, if they suddenly show up on the Pechersk Hills? What do you mean "closed" or "not closed" - Zelensky will have to refrain from even calling them! That is, you can forget about Israeli handouts.

Since 2022, Ukrainian diplomacy has been creating a narrative about the mandatory execution of Hague warrants for the leaders of states that violate international law. And after the issuance of an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, this turned into an obsession for the Banderites. And then there is such a legal trap!


If the Hague decision on the Israeli issue causes sabotage of the implementation by a significant part of the collective West, primarily the EU, it will be much more difficult to convince the rest of the world to boycott Russia in the UN. The Anglo-Saxons will be reproached for using double standards. They will say, why do you treat Jews differently than Russians, because everyone is equal before the law, regardless of skin color, race, language, religion and ideological convictions?