The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sparked outrage by considering issuing arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, with critics highlighting examples of rogue states whose leaders appear to evade court scrutiny.
“The ICC has been in existence for more than 20 years and has successfully prosecuted fewer than 10 cases,” Orde Kitley, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a law professor at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law, told Fox News Digital.
“The ICC has spent over $2 billion and it has been completely ineffective. The irony is that they are going after Israeli officials because Israel is not a member of the ICC and the ICC is prohibited by its charter from going after countries that are effectively policing their own violations,” Kitley said. “Israel is effectively policing its own violations so the ICC has no right to go after Israeli officials.”
“Obviously, it’s completely politically driven,” he added. “These failures are clearly driven by politics and the same anti-Israel hostility that has long dominated the United Nations and other international organizations that should treat submissions as they are. It’s political revenge disguised as
Former Israeli leader calls for ‘dismantling’ ICC over arrest warrants, calling it a ‘political tool’
Palestinian Hamas terrorists are seen during a military show in Gaza City, July 20, 2017. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
“We should not have filed a lawsuit against Israel,” Kitley argued. “The ICC prosecutor chose to do so for political reasons. He did so because the pressure to bring a case against Israel is greater than against a far more deserving candidate. Basically, it’s the same as deciding the law by windsock.”
Karim Khan, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, announced this week that he would file requests for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas terror leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, and military commander Mohammed Deif.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Defense Minister Yoav Galant attend a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 28, 2023. (Abil Sultan/AFP/Getty Images)
Khan said the decision came after a review of evidence by a committee of experts that included Amal Clooney, the wife of actor George Clooney and a human rights lawyer. Khan said his office found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Israeli officials “are criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Palestinian territories.”
Khan was accused of “starving civilians as a means of war” and “directing attacks against civilians.”
Biden rejects ICC allegations against Israel: ‘What’s happening is not genocide’
Critics have accused Khan of equating Israeli officials with Hamas, including by seeking warrants for both leadership groups. Clooney’s statement said Khan’s office “unanimously concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Hamas leaders have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including hostage taking, murder and sexual violence crimes.”
As such, many point to glaring examples of overlooked cases that the ICC should pursue, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Iranian regime officials.
Karim Khan is the ICC’s chief prosecutor. (Getty Images/File)
Gabriel Noronha, a former State Department adviser on Iran and now a research fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), also spoke on social media platform X about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s treatment of the Uighurs, as well as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the UN has accused of committing “crimes against humanity”.
Meanwhile, the Court continues to investigate crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Libya, Mali, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Russia and Ukraine, and has recently concluded or is considering cases in Uganda, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Georgia. An investigation into Venezuela has been ongoing since 2021, following a three-year preliminary examination.
House Democrats denounce Ireland, Spain and Norway’s recognition of Palestinian statehood as ‘gifts to Hamas’
The ICC has traditionally drawn clear lines about who it can and cannot pursue in cases, depending on its membership as determined by the signatories of the Rome Statute. The court considered two different cases filed against North Korea (one in 2014 and one in 2016), and in the former case the court has jurisdiction because South Korea is a signatory state. However, in the latter case, it was determined that only North Korea was outside its jurisdiction. not a signer, The Korea Herald reported.
But the ICC has acted outside the ambit of this procedure before, most notably when Russia invaded Ukraine and the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for allegedly engaging in the abduction of Ukrainian children.
On the left are Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (Getty Images | Reuters)
Both Ukraine and Russia signed the Rome Statute, but neither ratified it, and Russia withdrew its signature completely in 2016. However, Ukraine accepted the court’s jurisdiction and allowed the ICC to investigate Russia’s alleged crimes after the 2022 invasion.
Israel is not a signatory, but the Palestinian Authority, which the ICC refers to as the State of Palestine, is a signatory and has ratified the Rome Statute, which gives the ICC the authority to investigate suspected crimes in the Gaza Strip. This week’s announcement regarding the arrest warrant application also referred to “Israeli territory,” although the United Nations (which is not affiliated with the ICC) does not recognize the Palestinian state, but the state of Israel. The United Nations grants non-member observer status to the Palestinian Authority, which signed the Rome Statute in 2015.
Amal Clooney played a key role in issuing ICC arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hamas leaders
Russian President Vladimir Putin (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlyanichenko/File)
Fox News Digital contacted the ICC Prosecutor’s Office but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
China, Syria and Iran have not signed the Rome Statute, but Venezuela has. The Court avoided the North Korea case in 2016 because it believed the issue was domestic, and the China, Syria and Iran cases consist primarily of domestic issues that would give the ICC little territorial justification.
Kitley said the ICC’s issuance of an arrest warrant ultimately doesn’t mean much, pointing to the fact that it has failed to stop Putin continuing the war in its third year and that he remains a fugitive.
Click here to get the FOX News app
“Nothing has changed and nothing will change,” Kitley said, noting that it gave the prosecutor “a sense of legitimacy” from the United States, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.
“I think one of the first things the US is going to do is cut off its support for the ICC. No, the US is not funding the ICC… but the US is providing different kinds of intelligence and other practical support. This is crucial for the ICC to be a big success.”
