No war has ever ended under a judge’s gavel. But the arrest warrant requested by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Benjamin Netanyahu on May 20 hangs like a sword of Damocles over the Israeli prime minister. It forces him to rethink his movements. It forces its allies to think about the postwar period. But the threat did not change his conduct in the war.
Since the prosecutor’s requests in spring, who asked judges to issue five arrest warrants against the Israeli Prime Minister, his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas officials, of which only its leader Yahya Sinouar is still alive ( Ismaïl Haniyeh was killed in an attack attributed to Israel in July in Tehran and Mohammed Deif is presumed dead in an Israeli bombing in the Gaza Strip, also in July), Benjamin Netanyahu has integrated the new geography into a future Court indictment .
Fearing that the arrest warrant was already sealed, as judges sometimes do in the hope of facilitating an arrest, the Prime Minister, who was to give a speech to the United States Congress at the end of July, had declined to do so. a stopover in Prague, according to Czech and Israeli media. The Czech Republic is a member of the ICC, like all European Union states, including many allies of Israel, and therefore has an obligation to cooperate with the Court, in particular with regard to arresting suspects under warrant. of detention, even if it is a court. Several capitals believe, on the contrary, that international law preserves the diplomatic immunity of leaders of states that are not members of the ICC – such as Israel.
Suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Prime Minister loudly states that “Hague”where the ICC is located, will not change anything in the conduct of its war. “Although the decisions made by the Hague Court will not affect Israel’s actions, said at the end of April, They will set a dangerous precedent that will threaten soldiers and public figures. » But an arrest warrant will further complicate relations with his allies, already criticized by public opinion for their support of the Jewish State.
Mandates after the American elections
The UN and the European Union have in the past issued directives asking states to limit what is ” essential “ their contacts with the accused and avoid them as far as possible. Questioned at the beginning of June, Emmanuel Macron however stated that he would continue “ “Call, see, work with Prime Minister Netanyahu while he is Prime Minister of Israel, because it is essential.”.
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