Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, Nov 23, 2024

Arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) on November 21 for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu & former defence minister Yoav Gallant are of great significance for international justice. The court that came into force in 2002 has an impeccable reputation for following rigorous investigative standards on crimes of Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Its attempts to book top officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Darfur, Sudan, Libya and the Russian Federation have gone well with Western powers that call the shots as long as it didn’t rock their boat. ICC indicting top Israeli officials is a very challenging move and is likely to face huge headwinds. Israel (like the US and India) is not part of the ICC. Netanyahu and Gallant have reacted to the ICC move, with its usual mud-slinging at the credibility of International institutions like the UN, —“that this is due to antisemitic bias of the ICC & the UN’ [1]. For many years before these arrest warrants Israel has tried to intimidate the ICC officials [2]. There is a mixed reaction to the latest ICC warrants but major countries of the powerful west have acknowledged the warrant and suggest they would arrest the Israelis if the opportunity arises [3]. This lends much credence and weight to efforts by the ICC to bring to book those involved in war crimes. It is time for India’s left & democratic opposition parties to extend support to the ICC and call for its official recognition by India.

November 23, 2024 —HK