A representative of the German government clarified that if an international arrest warrant is issued against Israeli Prime Minister #Netanyahu, #Germany will be obliged to arrest him.
"We are bound by law, Germany supports the court and will remain so," spokesman Stefan Hebstreit said. #ICC
"In Israelis' wallowing and victimhood; in endless self-righteous panels on TV; in cries about an antisemitic world and the injustice of bundling Israel with Hamas, there's one fundamental, fateful question missing: Did Israel commit war crimes in Gaza? No one dares deal with this critical, key question: Were there, or were there not, crimes?"
Gideon Levy
"It is not enough to blame Netanyahu, the main culprit, nor is it enough to whitewash this with evasive arguments about hasbara, faulty legal counsel & extreme remarks from Israeli officials. The issue runs far deeper: For 57 years, Israel has been maintaining a regime of wrongdoing and evil, and now, at last, the world is waking up and starting to act against it. Will it also be able to wake up at least some Israelis from their heedless, twisted sense of justice?"
Gideon Levy #Israel#Gaza#ICC
Over 100 MPs and Lords have signed a letter calling on the UK government to respect the International Criminal Court. #ICC#WarCrimes#HumanRights#palestine
Keir Starmer and David Lammy have not signed the letter.
Considering Palestine is NOT a nation. Yet.
"The ICC considers cases against individuals and as such has to be distinguished from the International Court of Justice, which rules on disputes between states, such as the case brought by South Africa against Israel in January 2024 under the 1948 Genocide Convention." https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/05/icc-prosecutors-applications-arrest-warrants-explained
“As a human rights lawyer, I will never accept that one child’s life has less value than another’s. I do not accept that any conflict should be beyond the reach of the law, nor that any perpetrator should be above the law. So I support the historic step that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has taken to bring justice to victims of atrocities in #Israel and #Palestine.”
"ICC Charges Against Netanyahu First Time Court Has Gone After Western Leader"
Brody says the charges are "a watershed event in the history of international justice. This is the first time that a Western or pro-Western leader is [the] subject of an indictment request.”
The warrants for Israel’s top leaders must still be approved by a panel of ICC judges.
"Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, must request the warrants from a pre-trial panel of three judges, who take on average two months to consider the evidence" & make a determination.
Israel is not a member of the ICC.
Even if the warrants are issued, there is no immediate risk of prosecution, but the threat of arrest could make OS travel difficult.