An international law expert said that those who issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin may not hesitate to issue an arrest warrant against someone like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
And in a report For the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on the subject, writer Sam Sokol said that the recent decision of the International Criminal Court is an indication of its willingness to take action against the leaders of powerful countries that are not members of it in a way that it did not dare before, which increases the possibility of seeking to indict Israeli leaders in the future.
The newspaper quoted an expert in international law at the Buchman School of Law at Tel Aviv University, Eliav Lieblish, as saying that Putin’s arrest warrant “increases the dangers for the Israeli leadership.”
And the expert went on to say: “They have shown the political will to confront the president of one of the most powerful countries in the world, which can respond in unusual ways, including violence,” and that comment coincided – almost – with the veiled threat of former Russian Vice President Dmitry Medvedev to strike the court with a missile that exceeds its speed. The speed of sound.
And if the court had dared to issue such an order against Putin, Lieblich believes that then they “would not hesitate to issue an arrest warrant against a person like Netanyahu,” adding that “at the legal level, the court made it clear that it” does not believe that heads of state, which are not members of the Court, they enjoy personal immunity before the International Criminal Court.
In this context, he pointed out that Israel, although it is not a member of the court and says that the International Criminal Court does not have the authority to investigate crimes committed inside this country, this court ruled in 2019 that it has jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories, and in 2021 it agreed to a request to open procedures legal action against Israel and Hamas on suspicion of war crimes.
The writer pointed out that this court is currently busy with the Russia case, explaining that Israel may not have systematically kidnapped children, but some of its actions can be compared to those of Russia, including the transfer of some of its residents to the occupied West Bank, says Lieblish, adding Some legislative initiatives promoted by the current Israeli government could attract the attention of the International Criminal Court.
Lieblich believes that one of the main risk factors at the present time remains the Israeli government’s push to undermine the independence of the Israeli judiciary, a step that Lieblich says “enhances the chances of intervention by the International Criminal Court.”