Israel questions ICC judge's impartiality in Netanyahu arrest case

The request requires the approval of ICC judges, but their decision has been delayed, partly because of several rounds of legal filings by Israel that have challenged the court's jurisdiction.

By REUTERS NOVEMBER 13, 2024 16:43

PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a state memorial ceremony at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem last week, marking a year since the Hamas attack against Israel that took place on October 7/Simchat Torah, followed by the ongoing Gaza war. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Israel has questioned the impartiality of an International Criminal Court judge appointed to a panel deciding whether an arrest warrant should be issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The move could further delay a decision in the case, in which the ICC chief prosecutor filed a request in May for arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Israel's then-defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders over the Gaza war.

The request requires the approval of ICC judges, but their decision has been delayed, partly because of several rounds of legal filings by Israel that have challenged the court's jurisdiction.

In a further delay, Romanian magistrate Iulia Motoc, citing health grounds, asked last month to leave the three-judge panel that is reviewing the request for arrest warrants. She has been replaced by ICC Judge Beti Hohler, who is Slovenian.

The Office of the Attorney-General of Israel said in a statement dated November 11, which was seen by Reuters on Wednesday, that Hohler had worked for the Office of the Prosecutor before she was elected as an ICC judge last December.

ICC PROSECUTOR Karim Khan speaks during an interview in The Hague, earlier this year. (credit: PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/REUTERS)

"Israel respectfully requests that Judge Beti Hohler provide information to clarify whether there are (or are not) grounds to reasonably doubt her impartiality," it said.

ICC rule amid bias concerns

"Israel does not suggest that Judge Hohler's previous employment with the OTP necessarily or automatically gives rise to a reasonable apprehension of a lack of impartiality," it said. "However, judges of this Court have acknowledged that previous duties within the OTP may, depending on the circumstances, give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias."

Filing the request for arrest warrants in May, the ICC's chief prosecutor said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu, Gallant, and the three Hamas leaders had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. All three Hamas leaders are now dead or believed to be dead.

The court has no set deadlines but has generally taken about three months to rule on requests for arrest warrants in previous cases.