(Wall Street Journal) Editorial - The Israeli media is flush with reports of imminent International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Israel's political and military leaders. If President Biden and British Prime Minister Sunak don't act, they risk finding Americans and Britons next under the gun. The Israeli high command has prosecuted a limited war in self-defense against a genocidal terrorist group. Israel has a civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio that compares favorably with other urban conflicts. Israel takes extraordinary measures to spare civilians, and it has disciplined and relieved officers for wrongdoing. The ICC prosecutor is supposed to investigate before indicting a world leader, not the other way around. An indictment now would be highly irregular and revealing of bias or great-power pressure. The ICC is supposed to complement national legal systems, intervening only when they are unable to investigate. Is that really the issue with Israel's Supreme Court - famous for its judicial activism and antigovernment tilt? There's a reason the U.S. isn't a party to the ICC and Congress has long authorized a President "to use all means necessary and appropriate" to resist ICC arrests of Americans and U.S. allies.
2024-04-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive