Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
A few days ago Benny Gantz, a minister in Israel’s war cabinet, threatened to quit over the lack of a post-war plan in Gaza. But yesterday he joined a united Israeli front against the International Criminal Court, after prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant and the leaders of Hamas for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Gantz accused Khan of “moral blindness”. Joe Biden called the decision “outrageous”. Khan argued that “no foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader – no one – can act with impunity”. He believes Israel’s leaders bear criminal responsibility for crimes including using the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. Israel is not a member of the court (neither is America). But if ICC judges approve the warrants, it could cut 124 member nations off the Israeli leaders’ travel list and affect arms sales.
Further reading: An op-ed in the Financial Times from the eight-strong independent panel that advised the ICC prosecutor.