Hypocritical Western Nations Resisting Judgment Of International Criminal Court To Protect Israeli War Criminals

By Dr. Lawrence Wittner\PeaceVoice Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons The International Criminal Court’s recent issuance of arrest warrants to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza has stirred up a considerable backlash. Dismissing the charges as “absurd and false,” Netanyahu announced that Israel would “not recognize the validity” of the ICC’s action. U.S. President Joe Biden denounced the arrest warrants as “outrageous,” while the French government, after agreeing to support them, reversed its stance.  Thanks to a vigorous& campaign by human rights organizations, the& International Criminal Court& (ICC) became operational in 2002, with the mandate to prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and, after 2018, the crime of aggression. Nations ratifying the Rome Statute, the ICC’s authorizing document, assumed responsibility for arresting these individuals and submitting them to the Court for trial. The ICC prosecutes cases only when countries are unwilling or unable to do so, for it was& designed to complement, rather than replace, national criminal justice systems.& Operating with clearly delimited powers and limited funding, the ICC, headquartered at the Hague, has thus far usually& taken modest but effective action& to investigate, prosecute,...