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Fighting the Demonization of Israel at the International Criminal Court

(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Prof. Eytan Gilboa - On December 20, 2019, Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, announced: "I am satisfied that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip." Bensouda's opinion is baseless, preposterous, discriminatory, and violates the ICC's own mission and rules. The Court was established in 2002 to prosecute individuals for international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and serious war crimes. The U.S. and Israel did not ratify the Rome Treaty that established the Court out of concern that it would be used to deliver politicized and biased judgments. That concern has been proven valid. The ICC prosecutes individuals, not states. Therefore, if its pre-trial chamber of three judges rules that the ICC has jurisdiction over the case, Bensouda will be able to subpoena senior Israeli politicians and military officers for interrogation. If they refuse, she could issue warrants for their arrest. The writer teaches public diplomacy at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy in Los Angeles and is a senior research associate at the BESA Center.
2019-12-31 00:00:00
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