This action would be perhaps the most outrageous miscarriage of justice in the history of international law.

The ICC is expected to simultaneously issue warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, shamefully implying a moral equivalence between the leaders of Israel—a democratic country exercising the right to defend itself—and the leaders of Hamas—a genocidal terrorist group responsible for the worst atrocities against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

The ICC lacks any legitimacy to make these accusations against Israel. According to the Court’s own charter, it has no authority to adjudicate issues against a nation, like Israel, governed by its own rule of law. In addition, some of the world’s most influential nations, including Israel and the United States, are not signatories to the ICC.

Above all, the charges against the two Israeli leaders are baseless and reek of flagrant bias against the Jewish state. Neither Israel nor its leaders are guilty of intentionally starving Gazans. Israel has allowed unprecedented amounts of aid into Gaza, and all the rumors of famine have been proven wrong. If Gazans are hungry, it’s because Hamas steals most of the aid meant for them. Hamas is guilty of intentionally starving Gazans, not Israel.

Furthermore, under no circumstances does Israel intentionally target civilians. In fact, Israel takes precautions to protect civilians that go above and beyond what any other military in the world does to protect innocents. In contrast, Hamas tries to maximize civilian casualties by purposely placing themselves and their military infrastructure among civilians.

As one of America’s strongest allies and one of the most stalwart defenders of Western democratic values, Israel deserves the support of the U.S. and other Western powers in opposing, repudiating and refusing to enforce the forthcoming ICC warrants.

The ICC is a body with no authority of its own, and one that clearly lacks support from the “international community.” The Court was established in 2002 to hold those responsible for war crimes accountable. But acceptance of the Court is not universal. The U.S., Russia, China, India and many other countries, including Israel, are not party to the ICC. Thus, any warrants the Court issues against Israel’s leaders are invalid.

The Court, however, believes that since the “State of Palestine” is signatory, it does have the legal authority to prosecute war crimes in the Gaza Strip. In other words, the ICC claims jurisdiction based on ratification by a country that does not exist.

The anticipated decision to issue warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant demonstrates the ICC’s distinct and enduring bias against Israel. The decision was made through consultation with tainted advisors. Kevin Jon Heller, a special advisor to the ICC prosecutor, for example, wrote in an article in 2015, “I wholeheartedly support BDS”—the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel—“in its economic and cultural forms.”

Baroness Helena Kennedy and Daniel Friedman, two members of the panel of legal experts that recommended the warrants, have also displayed anti-Israel bias. In 2020, Kennedy signed a letter wrongly claiming the Israeli government was planning to annex parts of Judea and Samaria (aka, the West Bank), and called on the UK impose sanctions on Israel if it did so. She also falsely accused Israel of cutting off Gaza’s water supply. Friedman as well accused Israel of dehumanizing the Palestinians. This is hardly the impartiality one would expect from a credible judicial body.

Accusations of Israel using starvation and targeting of innocent civilians are patently, demonstrably false. Last month, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) shot down rumors of famine in Gaza. “The available evidence does not indicate that famine is currently occurring,” the IPC report said. Indeed, Israel has allowed an unlimited amount of aid into Gaza, which explains why Gaza markets are overwhelmed with goods.

Some Palestinians have died of malnutrition since the beginning of the war—34 to be exact, according to a July 9^th UN press release. In a land of more than two million people, this hardly rises to the level of famine—and certainly no indication Israel is purposely starving Gazans. In fact, Hamas is responsible for any hunger in Gaza, as it steals most of the aid that flows into the territory.

Furthermore, Israel does not intentionally target civilians. In fact, Israel takes more care to avoid harm to civilians than any other military in the world. During the war in Gaza, Israel has taken unprecedented measures to avoid civilian casualties, including warning civilians of impending strikes, creating humanitarian corridors, issuing evacuation notices and using precise munitions to ensure that it is Hamas terrorists who are targeted, not innocent Palestinians. These measures have led to a civilian-to-combatant death ratio of just 1.5 to 1, perhaps the lowest in the history of modern warfare.

Noted military experts have attested to Israel’s efforts to protect civilian lives in war, including 29-year British Army veteran Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp, who said Israel’s measures “represent by far the largest scale and most sophisticated efforts ever made to avoid civilian casualties in battle.” Similarly, U.S. army veteran John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern Warfare Institute, said Israel “has implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any other military in history.”

In sharp contrast, Hamas consistently uses human shields, hiding terrorists and weapons among civilians and within and about civilian structures—schools, mosques, residences, even hospitals.

Despite their inherent injustice, the ICC’s predicted warrants do not bode well for Israel. Netanyahu has already called off a stopover in Europe on his way to address the U.S. Congress for fear he could be arrested. Indeed, Netanyahu could face arrest in any of the 124 countries that do accept ICC jurisdiction, should they choose to enforce the warrants.

Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that the U.S. and Western nations should oppose, repudiate and refuse to honor these falsely based warrants against democratically elected Israeli officials.

If you agree we need to spread this truth, please use your email browser to forward this Hotline issue to fellow lovers of Israel—and encourage them to join us by subscribing to the Hotline at no charge.

Best regards,

Jason Shvili, Contributing Editor

Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)

P.S.      The riots, vandalism and illegal trespassing on American college campuses have sharpened the knives of the Israel haters. It’s become clear that the “pro-Palestinian” protesters are purely anti-Israel and support the genocide of Jews “between the river and the sea.” Scandalously, we’ve also seen hard evidence that university administrators are willing to ignore or openly support the antisemitic hate speech and harassment of Jewish students—though they would never permit such behavior against other minorities. I hope you’ll agree that we supporters of Jewish students and hate-free campuses need to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“Stop Terrorism on Campus”—calls for four actions to eliminate campus outlaws and to restore rights to all students. Please review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME recently published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Denver Post and Mercury News. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, Vice President Harris and President Biden. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us with a donation.

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