(Jerusalem Report) Alan Baker - Mahmoud Abbas' fixation on taking Israeli political and military leaders to the International Criminal Court sounds dramatic and even threatening. But it involves a large degree of self-delusion. The Court's complex evidentiary rules, specifically the rule of "complementarity," prevents the Court's exercising its jurisdiction if the case in question is already subject to investigation and potential juridical process by the nation state of the accused. Furthermore, Abbas is evidently misjudging the weight of Israeli material, visual and other evidence justifying the recent military actions in Gaza. Thus it is highly unlikely that any such attempt to bring Israeli leaders to trial would succeed. Even more noteworthy is the likelihood that the Palestinian leadership, in giving the Court jurisdiction over the territories, including Gaza, would be placing itself - as well as senior Hamas commanders - at the mercy of anyone who chooses to initiate claims against them for serious war crimes and terrorism. These crimes, of which they openly boast, include willful and large-scale targeting of Israeli civilians, towns and villages, and the willful and systematic use of their own civilians and civilian structures, including homes, schools, hospitals, mosques, clinics and UN properties, as civilian and human shields - all serious war crimes. There is also another consideration militating against Abbas' ICC gambit. The International Criminal Court has hardly got off the ground as a viable international juridical body. The last thing it needs is to be labeled one more UN-style "Israel-bashing" institution, manipulated by the Palestinians. The ICC knows full well that permitting itself to be manipulated into "hounding" Israeli leaders could permanently prejudice its credibility, integrity and juridical independence. The writer, a former Israel Foreign Ministry legal advisor and ambassador to Canada, is director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
2015-01-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive