Because of war crimes ... the specter of prosecution is chasing Israeli leaders

Muhammad Mohsen Wedd - occupied Jerusalem

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to form a government for the second time in a year, he and dozens of Israeli political, military and security leaders are facing a scenario of prosecution and the possibility of being brought to the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of war crimes.

Official Israeli radio reported, "Kan" that dozens of Israeli officials - military, political and security officials in service or precaution - led by Netanyahu - are now facing the possibility of international prosecution and arrest if they travel to 120 countries, if an international investigation is opened on suspicions of committing war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories .

Estimates are gathered that Netanyahu is not alone in facing the charges of persecution and standing in the international dock, following the decision of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, that there is a basis for opening an international investigation into suspicions of committing war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Alongside Netanyahu, the specter of prosecution hangs over the current Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, former Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Minister Moshe Yaalon, and who was a member of the Mini Ministerial Council for Political and Security Affairs (cabins) during military campaigns on Gaza Gaza.

Senior officers
The list is not limited to political leaders, but includes senior officers in the Israeli army and security services, led by the current Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, his predecessor Gadi Eisenkot, the head of the "Blue-White" coalition Benny Gantz, and the head of the Public Security Service (Shabak) Nadav Argaman, It was preceded by Yoram Cohen and Yuval Dixen.

During his tenure as Prime Minister, Netanyahu supervised three wars in the Gaza Strip, and during his ten days of combat tours have taken place with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Palestinian factions since the return marches began in March 2018.

During the wars and military campaigns on the Strip, the Israeli army, on the orders of the political and military leadership in Tel Aviv, killed thousands of Palestinian civilians. Many leaders of the resistance factions were also assassinated, while tens of thousands of housing units were destroyed and their residents were displaced, cases that amount to war crimes, according to international law.

To avoid indictments from the criminal court or the possibility of prosecuting Israeli leaders, Netanyahu held a series of consultations with ministers in the transitional government, as well as with officials in the military and the judiciary, to discuss ways to counter the International Prosecutor's decision.

In an effort to circumvent and cover up the depth of the crisis facing Israel in international forums after the Prosecutor's decision, Netanyahu instructed officials to discreet the content of the consultations and not to make any statements to the media about the expected Israeli measures.

Despite the crisis of government in Israel, which tends to hold third elections, and the political debate over the corruption charges facing Netanyahu, the various leaders of the Jewish parties in the right and center camps, even those demanding Netanyahu to step down, were unanimous in rejecting the Prosecutor's decision, and ensuring that it is not binding on Tel Aviv Which announced its intention to confront it in various ways and methods.

Contrary to criticism by political and legal leaders that have challenged the Prosecutor’s decision, alleging that the Hague Court does not have the power to conduct an investigation in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem because it is not a state, analysts unanimously agree that Israel has an interest in cooperating with the investigation of the court’s jurisdiction, To influence the contents of the indictment if presented.

The Haaretz political affairs correspondent, Nada Landau, believes that the International Criminal Court will first have to decide on its jurisdiction and its powers in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and at this point Israel will have to decide whether the advantages of cooperation outweigh the flaws and faults.

Hearings
ICC attorney Nick Kaufman, who was holding senior positions in the Israeli Attorney General's office, said that in the coming days, the court is expected to invite all relevant parties - including the State of Israel - to hearings on the court's jurisdiction.

According to Kauffman, Israel will have to decide if it will participate in this litigation, knowing that losing this track in the judiciary will cause diplomatic damage and will have serious political repercussions on Israel, noting that two countries - Myanmar and the United States - preferred not to participate in litigation hearings. For fear of loss.

For his part, Prof. Eyal Gross of the University of Tel Aviv Law School, explained that legal initiatives and auditing and examination mechanisms in Israel will be crucial to the issue of the jurisdiction of the criminal court.

He also clarified that the International Prosecutor believes that Israel has not properly exhausted investigations into crimes committed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, especially in return marches and the killing of civilians, which would affect the issue of the court's jurisdiction.