ICC has sealed fate of hostages, legal expert tells the 'Post'

Anne Herzberg of NGO Monitor explained how the warrants significantly limit Israel's ability to cooperate with national security officials.

By MATHILDA HELLER NOVEMBER 21, 2024 18:08

A wall of hostage posters in seen in Jerusalem, September 5, 2024 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

The ICC arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant have significant security implications for the Western world,  and for Israel's ongoing war, Anne Herzberg, a human rights expert and the legal advisor to NGO Monitor, told the Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

"The ICC has gotten itself enmeshed in our conflict, which is a seven front war," Herzberg said.

And it doesn't just affect Israel's wars, but other global conflicts, such as Russia-Ukraine, she added.

"It significantly impacts the global fight against terror."

Herzberg explained to the Post that the ICC decision has "sealed the fate of the hostages."

"Hamas now has zero incentive to do any type of deal," she said.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks in Caracas, Venezuela, earlier this year. This week, he faces charges over accusations he made against Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, says the writer. (credit: Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)

"There has never been a conflict where a party that was subject to an invasion, missile threats from seven fronts, which has twice faced the largest ballistic missile attacks in history, where 1200 of its citizens were massacred, hundreds of hostages taken, and yet has taken the most extensive measures ever seen to allow for humanitarian aid to enter into enemy territory."

"Gallant and Netanyahu have allowed for airdrops, aid trucks, commercial aid, a humanitarian pier, a humanitarian corridor. They have gone above and beyond what the law requires, and yet they were prosecuted for that specifically."

Hamas escape responsibility

The warrant says that both were responsible for mass starvation of Gazan citizens.

"And yet there is no mention of Hamas' role in denying the aid, UNRWA's role in preventing aid, the UN agency's total incompetence in providing aid," Herzberg added.

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She also spoke of the hypocrisy of targeting Israeli officials, given there were no arrest warrants made against Iranian, Qatari or Egyptian officials.

On top of that, there may be other Israeli officials with a warrant over their head, given warrants are typically kept secret.

"While it is highly unlikely [Netanyahu and Gallant] will be arrested or face trial, it severely limits in person cooperation between Israel and Western national security officials," Herzberg explained.

Herzberg believed that the ICC was aiming to get as much done as possible before the start of the Trump administration, given it is notoriously hostile to the court.

There is also the element of double standards: "Prosecutor Karim Khan could have moved against Hamas on October 8. The Palestinians don't dispute the jurisdiction of the ICC. And yet he moved against Israel. All the media attention was on Israel."

She also wondered whether he Khan moved to the arrest warrants as a means of deflecting from the sexual harassment allegations against him.

She added that the ICC has been under a lot of pressure for seemingly only going after African countries, and while other member states have abused human rights, she believed they were "targeting Israel simply because they can get away with it."

While Herzberg said she couldn't attest to the personal stances of ICC judges and legal officials, "there is institutional antisemitism in the ICC, as there is with many such organizations."

"It is systemic," she said.

Herzberg also noted how many of the groups providing evidence to the ICC were linked to the PFLP [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine] and Hamas. 

When asked whether this will have an impact on antisemitism in the diaspora, Herzberg agreed that by stopping key Israeli officials from travelling to many countries, it reduces the ability of Israel to coordinate with national security.

This could have a significant impact on Israel's ability to provide necessary help to Jews and Israelis, in the way it did after, say, the Amsterdam attacks earlier this month.

Additionally, Herzberg said that it directly "encourages antisemitism."

"Campus antisemitic movements, riots, the BDS wave - all justify their actions on the basis of the rulings of the ICC, the ICJ and the UN."

Therefore, the warrants may lead to an increase of attacks on Jews, and an increase in the BDS, as the ICC has effectively legitimized these things, she concluded.