The each-way bet on the ICC’s war crimes charges against Israel adds to the incoherence of Labor’s position amid a deeply worrying fraying of the social fabric of a multicultural Australian society over the Gaza war.
The International Criminal Court of Justice is supposed to be a court of last resort to bring to justice under international law the perpetrators of the most serious cases of human rights abuses when national legal jurisdictions are unwilling or unable to do so.
Last week’s decision by the ICC’s chief prosecutor in the Hague to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity muddies that mission by politicising the institution. Israel’s conduct of its legitimate war of self-defence to eliminate Hamas’ control of Gaza should be subject to international scrutiny and pressure to minimise the death and suffering of ordinary Palestinians.
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The Australian Financial Review’s succinct take on the principles at stake in major domestic and global stories – and what policy makers should do about them.
