Israel ‘not probing abuse claims’: ICC defends arrest warrants

Karim Khan defends recommending arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, amid claims Jerusalem had offered to show the ICC how its decisions over Gaza were made.

The International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor has defended his recommendation of arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, telling Israeli media he took action because Israeli courts did not appear to be investigating alleged abuse in Gaza.

The ICC doesn’t have the power to hold trials for nationals of countries that have independent judiciaries and can conduct investigations into alleged crimes. But in his first comments since making his recommendation, Mr Khan told Israel’s Channel 12 TV he hadn’t seen compelling evidence that Jerusalem was probing the claims.

An ICC official reiterated Mr Khan’s message to Israel’s state broadcaster Kan 11, saying: “Despite significant efforts on our part, the prosecutor’s office did not receive any information that demonstrated real action at the local level to address the crimes which were allegedly committed, over which the judges were asked to issue a warrant.”

However the Times of Israel reports that Jerusalem had been in touch with Mr Khan’s office recently, and offered to show him “how its decisions are made, where legal experts fit into the decision-making process, how strikes are approved in the IDF, what Israel is doing around humanitarian aid, and more.”

Mr Khan had been expected to make an official visit but cancelled the trip ahead of his announcement.

Mr Khan’s office told Channel 12 the prosecutor was willing to continue negotiating and holding talks with Israel as the process for deciding on arrest warrants moves ahead.

Mr Netanyahu has slammed the move, in which the ICC also seeks arrest warrants for Hamas leaders, comparing it with the ICC seeking warrants for both US and Al-Qa’ida leaders in the aftermath of the September 11 attack on the Twin Towers in 2001.

“Every democracy will be pulled into the [ICC] dock. We’re first, and you’re next. People understand that,” Mr Netanyahu said, appealing to western powers to intervene against the warrants.

“That has to be stopped. And that has to be resisted. And I can assure you, the vast majority of Israelis and all responsible leaders in the world understand that this should be resisted,” Mr Netanyahu said, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Mr Netanyahu told ABC America he was not worried about the threat of arrest.

“I’m not concerned at all about our status. I think that the prosecutor should be concerned about his status because he’s really turning the ICC into a pariah institution.

“People are just not going to take it seriously. They see it as a politicised thing. I hope that the judges don’t confirm what he says because that will make them into a kangaroo court,” he said.

Government spokesperson, Tal Heinrich, called on “the nations of the civilised, free world – nations who despise terrorists and anyone who supports them – to stand by Israel”.

“You should outright condemn this step,” Ms Heinrich said.“Make sure the ICC understands where you stand. Oppose the prosecutor’s decision and declare that, even if warrants are issued, you do not intend to enforce them. Because this is not about our leaders. It’s about our survival.”

It came as Israel walked back its decision to shut down an Associated Press live video feed of war-torn Gaza, following a protest from the US news agency and concern from the White House.

Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said he had revoked an earlier order that accused the AP of breaching a new ban on providing rolling footage of Gaza to Qatar-based satellite channel Al Jazeera.

“I have now ordered to cancel the operation and return the equipment to the AP agency,” Mr Karhi said in a statement, after Washington called on Israel to reverse the move.

“We’ve been engaging directly with the government of Israel to express our concerns over this action and to ask them to reverse it,” a White House spokesperson said.

Karhi’s original order earlier Tuesday said communications ministry inspectors had “confiscated the equipment” of AP on orders approved by the government “in accordance with the law”.

The AP said Israeli officials had seized its camera and broadcasting equipment at a location in the Israeli town of Sderot that overlooks the northern Gaza Strip.

In a statement issued after the order the news agency said it “decries in the strongest terms” the move by the Israeli government.

Reacting after Israeli officials ordered the equipment to be returned, it added: “While we are pleased with this development, we remain concerned about the Israeli government’s use of the foreign broadcaster law and the ability of independent journalists to operate freely in Israel.” AP said Al Jazeera was among thousands of clients that receive live video feeds from the agency.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera was taken off the air in Israel this month after Mr Netanyahu’s government voted to shut it down over its coverage of the Gaza war.

Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem offices were shuttered, its equipment confiscated and its team’s accreditations pulled.

Meanwhile US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a Gaza ceasefire deal was still possible but the arrest bid was setting back diplomatic efforts.

Testifying before Congress, Mr Blinken was repeatedly disrupted by protesters critical of US support for Israel. Several were evicted after shouting that he was a “war criminal,” but protesters – many showing symbolically reddened hands – were later allowed to sit silently behind him.

The ICC has recommended arrest warrants for Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant (L) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Picture: AFP.

Mr Blinken credited Qatar and Egypt with assisting the “extensive effort” to secure a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in return for the release of hostages.

But CIA Director Bill Burns, the US point man in the talks, left the region empty-handed some 10 days ago.

“I think we’ve come very, very close on a couple of occasions,” Mr Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the first of four appearances before Congress planned through Wednesday.

“We remain at it every single day. I think that there’s still a possibility,” he said.

“But it’s challenged by a number of events and I have to say, yes the extremely wrongheaded decision by the ICC prosecutor yesterday – the shameful equivalence implied between Hamas and the leadership of Israel – I think that only complicates the prospects for getting such an agreement.”

President Joe Biden called the move “outrageous” for putting together Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, and Israel, which has carried out a relentless military campaign in Gaza since then.

Republican politicians urged Mr Biden to take action against the ICC. Previous president Donald Trump imposed sanctions on an earlier prosecutor, a step reversed by Biden after he took office.

Senator Lindsey Graham pointed to a previous probe by the ICC, of which the United States is not a member, into US military actions in Afghanistan.

“If they’ll do this to Israel, where next?” Mr Graham said.

“At the end of the day here, what I hope to happen is that we level sanctions against the ICC for this outrage to not only help our friends in Israel, but protect ourselves over time,” he said.

Mr Blinken did not commit to sanctions, saying repeatedly that the Biden administration was looking at an “appropriate response” to the ICC.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin earlier said that the United States would keep co-operating with the ICC on a separate probe into alleged war crimes by Russia in Ukraine.

With AFP