European Leaders Divided on ICC Arrest Warrant Bid for Netanyahu

Across the Atlantic, United States President Joe Biden called the ICC’s application for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders “outrageous.”

Unlike all of the European Union’s member countries, the U.S. isn’t a full member of the ICC.

“Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” said Biden in a statement. “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

The ICC’s statement does not accuse Israeli and Hamas leaders of identical crimes, though there is some overlap.

A German statement, which came later than others, opened by saying the country respects the court, hailing its creation as a fundamental achievement of the international community, but added: “The simultaneous application for arrest warrants against the Hamas leaders on the one hand and the two Israeli officials on the other gave the false impression of an equation.”

The statement then lists crimes perpetrated by Hamas and voices support for Israel’s right to self defense.

Hamas has also criticized the ICC’s decision to file for arrest warrants for its members.

The requests for warrants will now be assessed by the pre-trial chamber of the ICC.

“Let us today be clear on one core issue: if we do not demonstrate our willingness to apply the law equally, if it is seen as being applied selectively, we will be creating the conditions for its collapse,” the ICC’s Khan said in his statement Monday.

“In doing so, we will be loosening the remaining bonds that hold us together, the stabilizing    connections between all communities and individuals, the safety net to which all victims look in times of suffering. This is the true risk we face in this moment,” Khan said.

According to Professor Zinaida Miller, an international law expert at Northeastern University, the ICC’s decision to apply for the arrest warrants suggests a degree of certainty that the applications will succeed.

“The Prosecutor would not apply for warrants at this stage unless he was confident in what he has determined thus far,” Miller told POLITICO.

At the same time, the narrow focus of the allegations on individual officials means there will be a “limited capacity to address the larger context of these crimes other than in ways that directly bear on the criminal process,” she said.

“[But] it’s worth keeping on an eye on the limited nature of the process even as we see the historic significance of the applications, particularly regarding Israeli officials.”